Advertising and Games

Review Rhetoric = how something is said ◦ art of persuasive communication Argument = what is said ◦ Claims followed by evidence that lead to a conclusion. Procedural rhetoric = rhetoric of a system ◦ The use of unit operations, systems, rules, and procedures to persuade or express.

Games are systems Games are systems—they are a combination of rules and units—they embody procedural rhetoric. ◦ Games have persuasive qualities, and some games are designed to be persuasive. What makes procedural rhetoric better/worse/different at persuasion than static or linear forms?

Three types of advertising 1. Demonstrative – communicate tangibles about the nature of a product Demonstrations and descriptions. “Let me tell you how it works/how to do it” Advergames: Advergames: Use of product in game; descriptions in game ◦ Illustrative – indirect information through presentation of product in social or cultural context Object used or referred to in context “Let me show you how it works” Advergames: Advergames: Communicate existence of the product in gameplay ◦ ◦ Associative – indirect; focusing on the context/social and intangibles. Lifestyle marketing; associating product with who buyer wants to be. “Batman does it and so can you.” Advergames: Advergames: Relate activity in life with game/relate game activity with life ◦

Ads have no one strategy Not mutually exclusive ◦ Rarely is an ad only demonstrative, illustrative, or associative. ◦ Rarely is an ad equal parts demonstrative, illustrative and associative. ◦ We look at the focus of the ad—what is its primary means of communicating.

Who created whom? “Mass media allowed companies to manufacture wants rather than satisfy needs” (Bogost 150). “Marketing has shifted away from a focus on the procedural rhetoric of media technologies—integrating ads into the rules of programming formats” (Bogost 152). “Advertisers focus on the procedural rhetoric of the frames themselves— integrating ads into rules of consumers’ perceived cultural station” (Bogost 152).

Types of game advertising Licensing and Product Placement. This perpetuates a recursive network—deepened relationship with product. Game increases exposure to product, exposure increases game sales. ◦ Licensing – sponsoring producer or representative product within game. Illustrative and associative ◦ Product Placement – placement of product in game. A soda machine, baseball bat, or clothing line. Also, static/linear advertisement in game. Advergames – Any game created specifically to host a procedural rhetoric about the claims of a product or service. Demonstrative, illustrative, associative simulation of product.

Advergames Focus on advergames for this assignment because they (can/should) are based on procedural rhetoric. They are “persuasive” games. Persuasive games foreground a product, lesson, or ideology.