The Ambitious King and Queen
Ian Bogost talks in depth about the ways in which video games are used as a form of promotion. His listed examples that varied from Obama to fast food. While I remember specifically the marketing campaign “Pokemon: The Movie” and McDonalds conspired together in, Burger King takes the cake when it comes to creative promotions. Bogost suggests that Burger King did not release their Xbox games with intentions of getting people to buy their burgers, but it worked.
I think Burger King turning their mascot into a humanistic character was brilliant on their part. Fast food is for the commoners so why on earth would anyone of us connect with a King? But a King that appears as human as I am, that is something I can get behind. The fast food chain KFC also caught on to this by turning Cornell (Why do they always have to be so prestigious) Sanders into a jokey hip mascot.
In regards to Video Games, Burger King makes its most ambitious move yet. Ian Bogost defines it as “Product Placement” which is when a product is visual but is not directly attempting to convince you to buy its products. This product placement came with the Easter egg in the popular boxing game series on PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, Fight Night 3. During the career option in the game, there are ways in which you can play to unlock the Burger King as a trainer. Not only is this product placement brilliant and fun, it also pushes positivity towards Burger King because the trainer gives your fighter extra abilities.
This clever product placement was not exclusive to the fast food industry. Starbucks, a coffee chain, took the reins of giving Pokemon Go, a mobile game that simulates a Pokemon type adventure, product placement as well. Starbucks turned all of their locations into a pokestop inside the mobile game. This means that if players wanted to utilize the special effects from the pokestop, they would need to go within the vicinity of a Starbucks. I didn’t crunch the numbers, but I imagine Starbucks saw an increase in revenue or loitering.
Product placement is constantly occurring. Humans are bombarded with advertisement after advertisement. It becomes overwhelming to analyze. Fun promotions like Burger King and Starbucks placing their product in Video Games shows a bright side. These advertisements are not in your face demanding you buy more burgers because the King helped you in your fighting career. Starbucks is not demanding you buy a coffee if you use their pokestop. Nevertheless, these companies set themselves apart from other marketing strategies. Perhaps these promotions are intentionally to get the video game public eating more burgers and drinking more coffee. In my opinion, I appreciate the subtlety of the promotions used in video games. I appreciate the ambition of Burger King and Starbucks that led to such fun promotions. KFC has been advertising with WWE recently to get in on the fun. I have optimism they will find inventive ways to promote products in video games soon too.
