Advertising is a tactic used to persuade future customers into buying a company’s products; although, there is much more behind a pretty television commercial or billboard poster. Flashy advertising has become the new norm that Americans have become, for a great majority, used to. Jib Fowles, an accredited author and professor, explains that there are 15 emotional appeals used to grab our attention in advertising; in addition to this, he goes on to write, “The average American is exposed to some 500 ads daily” (Fowles 1).
Subconsciously, we are impacted by advertising for all sorts of mediums, from television all the way to direct mail. Video game companies market their products differently depending on sex, violence, and popularity. To catch one’s eye is to also catch them by their emotions, as the marketing industry has taught us all to believe. These emotional appeals range from our need of sex all the way to our psychological needs: food, drink, sleep, and so forth (Fowles 2). In the gaming business, these appeals make up a great portion of the meaning behind their advertising, whether the company wants to admit it or not.
Hidden messages are not as hidden as one might think. There have been numerous research efforts to see exactly how these appeals affect children; especially when it comes to the use of violence. Blinded by the fun packaging and advertising, consumers might forget the real affects these products have on their children or on themselves. Nothing is a better example of this than the stereotypes that video game companies present and give to us. Video games have been believed to be masculine for a great portion of time, there are several reasons for this.
When game developers were coming out with the first video games for households, they had to choose where to place them in stores for the best way to make a profit. A large reason that video games, and entertainment like it, were marketed to men was the fact that males largely controlled the computer sciences field in the 1970s (Polygon. com). When faced with the option of a sparkly pink girls’ aisle or a multi-colored boys’ aisle, video game companies chose the option that would allow them to earn the most revenue. This led to their marketing towards young males.
In Erica Scharrer’s article, she writes, “Boys play more often than girls… [boys] make up the majority of the video game audience” (Scharrer 394) A small audience works for business only for a short amount of time. Today, this tactic is all but effective to keep up with the competition. The “need to escape” is what mainly controls this industry’s marketing (Fowles). Video game companies, such as Nintendo, are changing the way they draw in their future customers, even if it goes against their former business practices. Parents are more concerned about the media their children ingest than ever.
School shootings have risen over time and everyone is trying to get to the root of the problem. The question is, are we teaching our children to be violent by making it socially acceptable in video games, or is there another factor. Mature games are made less, around 5% of the time, and sold much more; in the top 10 video games sold in 2010 five of them were rated mature (Time). Some researchers believe that violent or sexual content presented to young children, adolescents, and adults might encourage this violent behavior.
Whether we would like to admit it or not, research into children’s games revealed that 68% of games tested contained violence, going up to 90% for more mature audiences (Scharrer 395). As a general fact, these games did not show the consequences of the violent actions; advertising for the games show even less acknowledgement to real life scenarios. Conversely, video game advertising is less likely to be retained with violent content (Lull et al. 2). It is easier to see why violent video game commercials are advertised more than non-violent; because they are harder to retain.
Teaching our children violence is bad enough, yet more damage is done by constant sexualization in video games and their ads. Objectification of each sex can be found in any video game, without our notice. From the scantily clad women to the over sexualized male hero, video game advertising could be endorsing a further divide in our society. Popular games teaching young girls they need to have a desired body shape and young boys that women are sexual “objects” (Scharrer 395).
Even with these negative effects, video games have been proven to improve mood, promote relaxation, and decrease stress and anxiety (Healthline. com). Marketing like this has been done for a couple of decades in this young industry, but considering the harm that could be caused, there should be a change in promotion. Nintendo is largely considered to be a family-friendly company when it comes to their products and marketing; despite this, they have changed their marketing to envelop a bigger audience. In the past, Nintendo’s television commercials focused on children and adolescents, between the ages of 8-14.
In recent months, with the launch of their long awaited new console, the Nintendo “Switch”, their advertising is taking a new trajectory, adults; those presented their advertising are between the ages of 21-35. From a marketing standpoint, this is a relatively bright idea. Children are much more likely to be seen playing on a smart device, such as a phone, tablet, etc. , rather than a Nintendo console; why would a parent shell out hundreds when they can get apps for only a couple of dollars or less (Gamesindustry. biz). Due to this new revelation, they have had to expand the range of consumers they attempt to bring in.
Shigeru Miyamoto, a game developer and designer, once said, “Nintendo’s philosophy is never to go the easy path; it’s always to challenge ourselves and try to do something great” (BrainyQuote. com). Even with their business changes, Nintendo is still focuses on providing family-friendly content. Xbox, a game system owned by Microsoft, is most likely to be found in a family living room or a teenager’s bedroom. It is hard to comprehend this fact, due to how heavily they market their rated “M”, mature, games than those directed at a younger audience.
Microsoft’s advertising for the Xbox is dying out, making pocket change, some $100 million, compared to the advertising of their competitor, which is in the billions of dollars (Shields). Every now and then, Xbox will advertise “E”, everyone, through “T”, teen, content; but the products they are most likely to advertise on the television contain adult themes. Xbox, like every gaming company, appeals to our need of escape; but it goes a step farther to appeal to our need for sex and aggress.
It is no wonder Xbox is believed to be drawn “to mature adults that have no interest in the gaming community” (LevelSkip. com). Those considered to be “hard-core” gamers will likely stray away from Xbox. A gaming platform that draws in the so called “hard-core” gamers is Play Station. Sony is the owner of Play Station, more importantly, a major competitor to Xbox in the gaming industry. Because of this, both companies focus on adult content and themes. The reason for their success over Nintendo, Play Station openly offered mature content to Nintendo’s older audience (LevelSkip. om) Play Station’s advertising in almost completely based on marketing their mature rated games.
Reasoning behind this, families and children are not supposed to be drawn to their content; the company’s focus is strictly on the adult gaming community. In Nintendo’s Super Bowl LI commercial for their new console, the Nintendo Switch, is focuses on several different groups. The video starts with a quick snap of their console, transitioning to a young adult lying in bed. This young male adult goes about his daily life, apart from him playing his Nintendo Switch wherever he goes.
With this, Nintendo is trying to reinforce in our minds that even though we are grown up, we should still “switch”. The next group the ad focuses on is a young boy, around the age of 10, and his father plays with the system, further pushing Nintendo’s “family-friendly” stance. At this point in the ad, it is showing some of the telltale signs of the need for escape, aesthetic sensations, affiliation, and domination (Fowles). The ad transitions further into two different groups of people, one composed of a young man and woman, the other composed of a gathering of people.
The ad continues with other groups, all of whom appear to be around or above college age. The most prominent part of this video was the song played throughout the ad, “Believer” by Imagine Dragons. A subtle nod at the child in all of us. Nintendo’s effort in this commercial was not to appeal to just one audience, but entirely new groups all at once. In stark contrast to the family friendly approach, Play Station’s commercial “The King” takes a very dark approach to selling their product. The ad opens on a medieval setting, focusing on the “king”.
There is a haunting tone in the song played in the background, a rendition of “Sweet Dreams”, along with the king’s sudden “disappearance”. The king has “dreams” of different lands, representing his need for escape. Transitioning to battlefields far ahead in the future, the king battles with giant machines, mythical creatures, and “bad guys” from our present age. There is an array of emotional appeals displayed in this ad, with the need to dominate, escape, aesthetic sensations, and affiliation. As the Play Station slogan appears, “Greatness awaits”, it is calling the viewer to pursue what the king did in the ad.
Play Station acknowledges that the content they are using is not “family-friendly”, but it is not the audience they are appealing to. The main purpose of the ad is to inspire us all to be “kings”, which is achieved by buying Play Station’s products. With a much less aggressive advertising tactic, Xbox’s commercial, “Xbox One: Greatest Games TV commercial, intends to persuade us using relatively the same emotional appeals as Nintendo and Play Station. The games shown in the video are rated E-M, a larger audience range than Play Station.
The video begins with a woman speaking as she attempts very dangerous stunts for survival with the words, “Those who take steps… and those who take the great leap forward. ” The relates the emotional appeals of escape and aesthetic sensations. It then moves to a man’s voice who is clad in armor, as he speaks of how someone decides to stay the same or change. This appeal could be viewed as the need of affiliation. It then cuts to another man, most likely a battered soldier, who says, “They compete and are fearless”; directly referencing our need to dominate.
The advertisement continues with the voice, “Those for whom the extraordinary will never be enough. ” Xbox is directly asking the viewer if they are willing to settle for second place or surpass first. They address this with the quote, “Will you step or will you leap? ” The purpose of this ad is to prove that Xbox is by far the greatest console for people to play for their entertainment and only for the people willing to “break the boundaries”. Breaking boundaries is what gaming companies must do to stay relevant in our “smart phone gaming” age.
Nintendo attempts to remain important by widening the audience it reaches, appealing to children and the child in all of us. Play Station focuses on its desirability by providing content to their loyal gaming community, offering the adults in the market what they wish for. Xbox tries to draw in a vast array of consumers by proving themselves to be “the best of the best. ” Whether companies want to admit it or not, violence, sex, aggression, and the popularity behind the brand have now become the greatest advertising ploy of all.