Obama campaigns in Burnout, 17 other games

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Oct 14, 2008 11:44 am PT

[UPDATE 3] Burnout players in 10 states will be racing past in-game ads for the presidential candidate from Illinois all month long; AP reports spots also appearing in Madden, NASCAR, NBA, NHL, and Skate; Obama staff tells NPR it has buys in 18 games.

Change has been a key theme of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. For example, the campaign for the Democratic senator from Illinois is actively courting the votes of gamers for a change.

Game the vote?

As pointed out by GamePolitics last week, ads for Obama's presidential campaign have been spotted in Electronic Arts' high-octane racer Burnout Paradise. An EA spokesperson today confirmed for GameSpot that the Xbox 360 version of the game has been playing host to Obama billboards since October 6. The advertising campaign will run until Monday, November 3, the eve of the US general election.

The EA representative said that the ads would appear in only 10 different states, most of them contested battleground states. Paradise City residents in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin are being targeted by the campaign. In the 2004 presidential election, all of those states except Wisconsin went to Republican incumbent George W. Bush.

The Obama campaign is running only on the Xbox 360 version of the game, given that it was handled by Microsoft-owned in-game ad firm Massive Incorporated. In-game ads for the PlayStation 3 version of Burnout Paradise are operated by IGA Worldwide. As for the absence of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, the EA representative said that Massive had approached the Arizona senator's campaign, which "passed" on a Burnout ad buy.

The EA representative said that the publisher treats its in-game advertising like a TV network or radio station would, noting, "Political advertising does not reflect the opinions or policies of EA or its developers." A representative with IGA Worldwide said the firm "could not comment on the political advertisements."

Though EA is not officially endorsing Obama, its top executive has donated to the Democrat's campaign. In another GamePolitics report, the site pointed to a host of industry figures' political-campaign contributions, with EA CEO John Riccitiello throwing $4,600 into the Obama kitty. Many other game luminaries have also donated thousands this election cycle, with Spore designer Will Wright and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick among those sending thousands to McCain, whereas Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick and ESRB president Patricia Vance contributed substantial sums to Obama. In the primaries, Valve Software head Gabe Newell contributed $2,300 to Democrat Chris Dodd's doomed candidacy.

[UPDATE]: A representative with Massive told GameSpot the Obama campaign approached the company with the idea of the campaign, and went on to state that Massive "does not endorse either candidate." The in-game ad firm does restrict some advertisements, however; it does not accept tobacco or alcohol ads, and other restrictions vary depending on the rating of the game in question.

[UPDATE 2]: The Associated Press is now reporting that Obama is running ads in 8 other EA games, including Madden NFL 09. The other titles include "NASCAR, NBA, NHL, and skateboarding" titles, with the latter presumably meaning Skate.

[UPDATE 3]: The Wednesday installment of National Public Radio's Morning Edition says the Obama campaign has announced it is now running ads on a total of 18 games.

385 Comments

  • patrickanator posted Nov 11, 2008 11:08 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    patrickanator

    Posted Nov 11, 2008 11:08 am PT (hide)

    come on burnouut! your a cool game, so why put somebody like obama on a billboard sighn? Now that hes president america is going to be so screwd up its not beacsue hes black i think that im not racist

  • nintendoboy16

    Posted Nov 7, 2008 8:58 pm PT

    Ok, I think this is really stupid to put presidential ads in games, and I thought standard product placement was bad enough, but this puts it in further.

  • danielreader22

    Posted Nov 4, 2008 8:54 pm PT

    Obama won the elections. Oh man, were screwed...

  • sdixon30333 posted Nov 4, 2008 7:16 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    sdixon30333

    Posted Nov 4, 2008 7:16 am PT (hide)

    Obama 08!!! He ain't desperate, he's just trying to get everyone involved!!! So fux off!!!!!

  • georgeorjose

    Posted Nov 4, 2008 6:45 am PT

    how desperate do u have to be, to put ur campaign in a video game!?!?! this guy is trying to squeeze out any vote he can huh. good thing they are not in any games i have played i would have send that game back for repair

  • redhaze02 posted Nov 2, 2008 6:01 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    redhaze02

    Posted Nov 2, 2008 6:01 pm PT (hide)

    obama 08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • WNxUSA

    Posted Nov 2, 2008 4:26 pm PT

    So glad i bought a PS3 and not a X360. I don't have to worry about those adds because their not in the PS3 version! I love you Sony and your peoples for not making me see that crap

    X360 can deal with the obama crap. God help us if he becomes president, were all fuxed on more ways than one to sunday. I shudder at what he wants to do tot he gaming industry.

  • filmfreak1138

    Posted Nov 1, 2008 10:49 pm PT

    Why cant we have JESUS SAVES? Cuz Obama sure as heck cant... He going to mess our country up so bad.

    1st. He is not even an American citizen
    2nd. He has only been in office for something like 178 DAYS!!!!!
    and 3rd. just like Criterion... he is going to take OUR money!

    Please... put Burger King or Nike ads up... tear down those Obama signs!!

  • foxy42

    Posted Nov 1, 2008 2:36 am PT

    Oh yeh, and as for billboards in games, the only objection I have is the incredible waste of money to place the propaganda in the game, when you are never really gonna see it (passing at 200mph). Check out Grid for an example of perfect product placement, the eBay motors function actually adds depth to the game and is relevant.

  • foxy42

    Posted Nov 1, 2008 2:29 am PT

    Quote from a Greek email going around the internet with a picture of a church billboard photoshopped to state... "vote for the colored guy, the other one's an a$$". It works much better in Greek due to the subtleties of the language, but I can assure you that's how all of Europe feels. If you guys vote for McCain, you should be made to relinquish your voting rights, and come back under British colonial rule, as you will have demonstrated 3 times in a row that you don't understand what you are voting for. If you don't really know why you are voting, DON'T VOTE. The really funny part is that you impeached one of the best presidents you ever had for getting a bj; Clinton (IQ 180), and voted in... Bush, one of the worst you ever had (IQ 90, yes really). Then you voted him in AGAIN! OMGlolzzzz. I realise this comment will probably be removed and if it's against site policy then fair enough, but GS, if you don't want people posting political comments, don't post political news articles. Thanks guys, and God Bless America, it will be great again and not the butt of the world's political jokes. Peace. (An Englishman living in Greece)

  • division_9 posted Oct 31, 2008 8:20 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    division_9

    Posted Oct 31, 2008 8:20 pm PT (hide)

    GoBama!.

  • Toysoldier34

    Posted Oct 29, 2008 3:36 pm PT

    McCain should put a Joe the Plummer ad in the next mario game... Giggle Giggle

  • marco_poalo

    Posted Oct 29, 2008 2:38 pm PT

    If I buy Spore am I supporting McCain?
    Along with DRM, these are two reasons to pirate a game. lol.

  • Snipeflip

    Posted Oct 28, 2008 2:22 pm PT

    y'all act like you gon like the advertisement is gonna be in your face, its only on the billboard. If any of y'all ever played Midnight Club 3 did you notice that rapper The Game's CD was on a billboard. Now it was 1 of those almost subliminal things you notice, so its not really a big deal in my eyes.

  • Media_Mind

    Posted Oct 21, 2008 8:42 pm PT

    OBAMA!

  • jeffmclark1973

    Posted Oct 20, 2008 7:16 pm PT

    mabey NAder will pull the upset and then those adds will mean nothing...LOL.. Yea it's ok to put an add in there I mean I'm not playing to read the signs and think wow, I really need to vote, I glance them and think that was funny, and it's gonna really date the game when your grandsons are playing the game and they think nothing of them.. oh man this could get long...I better stop now.

  • sportsfreak13

    Posted Oct 20, 2008 5:39 pm PT

    JOHN MCCAIN '08

  • Shadow_Fax87

    Posted Oct 20, 2008 3:39 pm PT

    That's ridiculous.... So when he asks joe the plummer to "share the wealth" though his ridiculous taxes I don't see any thing coming out of his wallet!!!!! Barrack Obama is a two faced polotician and is not good for our country....

NHL 09 Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices

GameStop $9.99 SHOP ›
advertisement
advertisement
Click Here

Related Unions

NHL 09 Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
NHL 09

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    2,577 of 78,795
    (up by 117)
    PC Rank:
    905 of 12,639
    Highest Rank:
    109 in 2008
    Tracking:
    135 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    53 Wish It»
  • Player Reviews:
    16
    Player Ratings:
    221
    Users Now Playing:
    44
  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. hockey
    2. nhl
    3. ice hockey
    4. ea
    5. ea sports
  • Everyone 10+ Rating Description

    Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement