Obama Now Advertising on Video Games

This surely has to be a first for a politician, let alone a Presidential candidate. Sen. Barack Obama has bought advertising space on video games to spread his message.

The candidate has been placing in-game adverts in the Xbox 360 game ‘Burnout Paradise’, featuring a billboard with Obama’s image and a message that players should make sure they register to vote.
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"I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout," Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts said.

"Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates. Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams."

Obama may be the first politician to use in-game advertising but the practice is becoming increasingly common for businesses.

Analyst firm Yankee Group reported recently that the worldwide in-game advertising industry is expected to be worth around $971.3m by 2011.

Businesses are increasingly involved in placements inside video games because the video game business targets specific age groups and demographics quite succinctly.

I'm not sure that Obama is going to get his money's worth here, but it certainly is a novel approach.