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[Jediwannabe]

[curiouswife]

Jedawanabee:

[Huginn]

http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/060525/052506_commercials.html?.v=1

Told you that are -watching- us

Pretty much shares the concerns. On how it could backfire as well and how it loses immersion.

Merit the Monster.com listing was pretty respectible and actually can ADD to immersion.

Depends on how it is done.

[RPGgame]

it is interesting to read such an article it should mention that as you said like the way the monster thing was done was very appropriate and its making us look all over monster for content.

[Ehsan]

What the majority of the responses here have done is confuse the objection to corporate sponsorship with the objection to breaking suspension of disbelief.

Corporate sponsorship, advertising, and product placement is perfectly acceptable and a great way to fund an ARG.

Intrusive advertising, breaking TINAG, and in-your-face product placement is annoying. People have different thresholds for what 'intrusive' means, so a sprite website might be okay for some, but I would pass and say why the hell did you have to break my suspension of disbelief.

There's no logical way they can associate Sprite with Hanso Foundation without making it seem forced.

I've seen examples in the past were the hands of game creators were tied because of sponsors wanting to see their products. PHBs and marketing types still Don't Get It. So just in case some of them are reading: let the designers do whatever you want, I'm not interested in seeing your products.

Give me an ARG which I will play and when it's over tell me it was sponsored by Sprite, and I'll buy 10 cases in support even if I don't drink Sprite. But stick your product inside my game and you'll be damn sure I won't even touch it.

Advertising = Good
Intrusive Advertising = Bad

[chippy]

I think the advertising has been kinda in tune with the game, design wise. Theres been some thought into how to craft the adverts into the game, makes it seem flawless and consistent with the alternate reality.

What makes people upset, is the old "its just a viral ad thing" where they feel cheated. We feel cheated when we invest our time and energy following something that turns out to be just a viral ad, viral websites etc. We were tricked, we thought something good would happen, but all we got was an advert.

Its this sense of being tricked which i think people are reacting to. Perhaps if there were direct adverts or product placement in the main sites, people would be able to accept them. We are smart, and can generally block out these types of adverts. We were tricked into seeing these ads within the Lost Experience. We were tricked into investing our energy on something that turned out to be an advert.

Personally, im fine with the adverts, it shows they've really thought about how to tie in external partners into one campaign... they are being clever.

Isn't it nicer to see an advert tailored to the game, world, environment where you are at the time, than to see just the same generic identical one on the billboards everywhere else? Maybe we should be flattered they are targeting us like this?

I'm interested to see how far they can push it, maybe having messages on cans/packaging, in car showrooms....its possible... would you go to a car showroom to find a message about the game, would you buy some chocolate to find a secret code? Thats an example of being more clever, and its probably going to happen, if not with this ARG, then with another.

We get upset when they can bypass our filters, but because we have those filters, advertisers have to come up with new tricks.

[Gus Raja]

I totally agree. Seeing ads at the DJ Dan website is one thing because they look normal. You'd see that any any out-of-the-blue website. But when you're taken to a site meant solely to advertize Sprite, it cheapens the entire experience by saying, "look at you playing some stupid game." You're left wondering if somehow this is a new clue to help you get further, but instead it bogs down your computer and leaves you with nothing except for possibly leaving you feeling a little thirsty. Instead of feeling like an investigator possibly onto something new, I feel like I've been taken for a ride and then dropped back off at the same square on the boardgame. Frankly, if I step into a Jeep Compass, I want to drive.

[catherwood]

[RPGgame]

[Abraxas]

Ok, after the recent DJ Dan podcast this ARG is finally getting on my nerves...ads, ads, ads. Now they are trying to coat it by turning it into part of the story...very clever.
It's getting even more intrusive. I was fairly open to it so far, but if it proceeds like this, that's even bugging me.

[fred_bled]

Nah, fark it... While this is the first ARG I've actually participated in, it might perhaps be a bit unfortunate it happened to be The Lost Experience - but still, this spritified lymony Jeep video podcast was the last drop as far as I'm concerned. I get enough advertising thrown in my face on a day to day basis, and I certainly don't want to be tricked into actively looking for even more ads believing I'll find some interesting clues for a game.

Enough is enough...

edit: Removed stray italics tag

[Lyria]

[RPGgame]

I actually enjoyed the dan podcast cause it made sense. It was advertising without throwing it into your face. It was made part of it. Dan is corrupted by corporations which makes sense. Its all about the money. It works with the story and I can accept it. Jeep still is doing well with monster.com doing the best.

[ScarpeGrosse]

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