Advergaming is a promotional technique that integrates advertising and gaming. It can be above or below the line, and online. Advergames can include ads embedded in the game, and the company’s product can play a role in the game. Some criticisms have been raised about advergaming, especially when targeting children.
Advergaming, a portmanteau integrating “advertising” and “gaming”, is a term used to describe games in which advertising plays a prominent role. There are different types of advergaming, all designed to promote a business or product, and the use of advergames in advertising has become increasingly common. Advergames can be seen online and offline and the line between advertising and gaming is sometimes very blurred.
In above-the-line advertising, the advertisements are explicit and can actually be an integral part of the game. Games on corporate websites are an example of the above-the-line approach, as are games that are distributed free on disc with a company’s products. This type of advergaming can include ads embedded in the game, including ads around the edge of the screen and ads that show during transitions, and the company’s product can play a role in the game, with players interacting directly with the brand of the product while playing.
Below the line advergaming is more stealthy in nature. In this type of advergaming, people might be playing a regular game, but product promotions are cleverly integrated into the game. For example, in a car game, players would walk past billboards advertising real products, or when someone wins a level or beats the game, a business or organization might sponsor the congratulations screen. Several militaries have used under the top techniques as a recruiting tool, handing out free games that display promotional materials after players manage to beat the game.
Through online advergaming is another approach to this promotional technique. With online gaming, people interact with links, websites, and promotional materials outside of the game. Alternate Reality Games (ARG) are an example of this type of advergaming. ARGs have been used to promote products, television shows, and companies. Through-the-line techniques are often praised for forcing users to interact directly with supplemental material if they are to beat the game.
Some criticisms have been raised about advergaming. Children can be very vulnerable to advertising, especially when they cannot distinguish between promotions and real play, and the use of games to market junk food has come under fire from people concerned about childhood health and nutrition. The use of manipulative advergaming techniques to get people to buy products has also been criticized, with critics pointing out that when advertising is explicit, players can choose whether or not they want to engage with it, while advertising embedded in crafty way has a more subtle and sometimes more lasting message. This, of course, is exactly why companies like below and across the lines techniques.
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