http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/ads http://kotaku.com/tag/ads

Among the many tweaks and upgrades (and one downgrade) packed into the Xbox 360 dashboard update was one feature people aren't very happy about: Interactive TV ads. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5866681&view=rss&microfeed=true

This Sunday, Microsoft will launch an ad campaign that tout its "family" of consumer products together, rather than individual campaigns for each. What that really means is the company is ramping up the sex appeal for products like Microsoft Office by including the Xbox 360 and Kinect in the picture. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5850083&view=rss&microfeed=true

Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry is as wholesome and American as they come. He believes in hard work, patriotism, faith in god, and good old American ingenuity, even if we have to import it from Canada. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5831092&view=rss&microfeed=true

Dying in a video game pisses people off. In-games advertising pisses people off. Independent free-to-play browser-based online game developer Artix figures it might as well kill two angry birds with one annoying stone, merging death with in-game ads. Isn't it just perfect? More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5818136&view=rss&microfeed=true

This video gives us a unique opportunity to see behind the wall that one would hope separates entertainment from advertising. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5814528&view=rss&microfeed=true

One thing you can count on in the NCAA basketball tournament, playing now, are the CBS promo spots for The Masters, full of pomp and grandeur, with Jim Nantz invoking the Tradition Unlike Any Other. That's what makes this spot for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters so fantastic. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785589&view=rss&microfeed=true

Or would we? We'd shoot one portal beside our couch, one on the side of the bus, and wait for it to reach its destination from the comfort of our own homes. Seattle's mobile Portal 2 ads via Reddit. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5784482&view=rss&microfeed=true

Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play is more than just a mobile phone. It's a gaming device powerful enough make loveable actress and comedienne Kristen Schaal transform into a dwarf, get possessed by the devil, and play with herself. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5784471&view=rss&microfeed=true

A Sony executive recently declared that Marcus Rivers, the smartass 'tween flack for the PSP who debuted at E3 last year, delivered "positive sales effects," for the handheld. Near as I can tell, that's the first anyone's heard of the little twerp in more than four months. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5765065&view=rss&microfeed=true

Oh for the days when video game advertising consisted of nothing more than people looking so excited their faces were about to explode. Check out the full Vectrex ad at Josborn's Flickr page. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5724481&view=rss&microfeed=true

After seeing a baby delivered with the Grabinator, I'd say it's a virtual inevitability we're going to end up with Kevin Butler Sackboy costumes sometime soon after LittleBigPlanet 2's release. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5709761&view=rss&microfeed=true

This video just popped up on YouTube, purporting to be the debut advertisement for Kinect once its television marketing campaign begins. Ads that leaked out before this one were "unfinished." More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5669276&view=rss&microfeed=true

MMOs and the NFL aren't exactly peanut butter and chocolate, but tomorrow they combine tomorrow afternoon to give you the first look at cinematic footage from World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5665646&view=rss&microfeed=true

For years, PlayStation ads have been beautiful. The proof is in a wonderful gallery, posted by a Spanish-speaking Flickr user, who hosts images of 83 spectacular ads for PlayStation games and systems. Can video game ads be considered art? [PlayStation Ad Gallery] More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5663070&view=rss&microfeed=true

Kevin Butler, Sony's fake vice president of animal control, doesn't drop the snark even if cute widdle pwane-fwying pets are the subject. And hey, dude's got a point about chewed furniture and piddle stains. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5659470&view=rss&microfeed=true

Will a pair of glowing, bobble-headed heroes make you a fan of the PlayStation Move? The MoveMen, stars of a new PlayStation Move ad push, are here to try to sell you one, stylishly. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5637219&view=rss&microfeed=true

The PS3 is good for motion gaming and "sitting gaming," everyone's fave fake exec says in his latest ad, published today. Is that a dig at Kinect's capacity to recognize people gaming from their couch? More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5634361&view=rss&microfeed=true

Our neighbors to the north have likely already seen and been irrevocably horrified by Alan Wake's big, spooky and, most important, clever ad push, which intimidated Canadians with its warnings about just how evil the darkness is. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5568948&view=rss&microfeed=true

Now they're hauling off construction debris. (And, apparently, preaching the Gospel). Fitting, for all the bricks they've smashed. As seen by reader Kageski on his way to work yesterday. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5556360&view=rss&microfeed=true

Popstar Kylie Minogue's latest music video features a bevy of young, attractive people taking their clothes off and fondling each other. I remember the first time I saw it, back before it was a music video packed with underwear. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5554182&view=rss&microfeed=true

Apparently tired of giving space to "Knobby Tires" and "Synthetic" on its virtual stadium walls, Electronic Arts is dropping its two in-game advertising partners and moving that sales operation in-house, beginning with Madden NFL 11. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5492650&view=rss&microfeed=true

A Nintendo DS ad took the number nine spot among the most irritating TV ads aired in the UK last year, as determined by England's Marketing magazine. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5451287&view=rss&microfeed=true

Madden NFL 10's in-game advertising arched some eyebrows when it released, but the grousing quickly blew over. The complaints have returned, as some users are reporting even more frequent pop-up ads, sometimes at the rate of one-per-snap. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5432396&view=rss&microfeed=true

Adweek today announced what they believe, as advertising experts, to be the best commercials of the past decade. And amongst the finalists were two video game spots. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5426526&view=rss&microfeed=true

Walmart isn't the only retailer planning to knock down prices this month for video games. We've gotten our hands on the flier showing of Kmart's big Black Friday deals as well. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5397739&view=rss&microfeed=true

The slightly defaced ad for Bethesda's fall shooter Rogue Warrior, photographed by me at my local subway exit near Kotaku's NYC branch office, had one feature that turned my head: The two small words in red. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5379581&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Media Coalition has joined the Entertainment Software Association in their call for the Chicago Transit Authority to repel its ordinance barring the advertising of video games rated Mature or Adults Only. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5320586&view=rss&microfeed=true

IGA Worldwide's in the business of in-game advertising, of course, and the figures it cites are its own. But according to their research, gamers respond to ads a lot more favorably than some would believe. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5217873&view=rss&microfeed=true This is how Sony will be flogging LittleBigPlanet across Europe - three short TV spots showing off some of the more creative uses of the level creation tools. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5079574&view=rss&microfeed=true

Microsoft UK's Xbox marketing blitz continues apace with two new fronts being opened up in the battle for Xmas console mindshare. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5070418&view=rss&microfeed=true

Presidential candidate and Pong fan Barack Obama has, in the past, urged parents to "turn off the television set, and put the video games away," wisely warning that electronic entertainment shouldn't be raising their kids. But Obama won't be telling potential voters to turn off their games of choice. His campaign has bought ads in nine games that accept in-game advertising, according to Boston.com. You may remember that Obama got some press for snapping up billboards in Burnout Paradise, but Boston.com writes that he's extended that to Guitar Hero and Madden NFL 09. The in-game ads aim to inform voters that early voting has begun. Obama is the first presidential candidate to buy up in-game ad spots. Barack's been on the receiving end of some cash from both Activision and Electronic Arts, so that ad spend has a chance of coming right back to him. That's not just good marketing, it's smart cash recycling. McCain hints he may raise Obama-Ayers ties in tonight's debate [Boston.com] More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5063896&view=rss&microfeed=true Can't say I was much of a fan of the first "Live Your Moment" ad, the "casual" targeted slow-motion nightmare that kicks off Microsoft's new Xbox 360 holiday ad blitz. Fortunately, the next two, shot in the same vein and focusing on LEGO Batman and Xbox Live Marketplace's video download service, are simply more goofball than nightmare-inducing. The kid in the second ad spot, fresh-faced though he may be, looks like he's getting a hit of heroin off-screen, he's so delighted. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5055393&view=rss&microfeed=true

Microsoft is spending big this holiday season, trying to lure in the "casual and social" segment gamer who does not yet own an Xbox 360. They're also going after the "I like to be creeped the fuck out by hollow-headed women with death mask smiles" crowd with the first spot in the "Live Your Moment" ad campaign. While we contend that Microsoft's new marketing thrust is the kind of disturbing digital witchcraft that will give us night terrors, the company describes its efforts as "focused on shifting brand perception and driving re-appraisal of the platform in a very competitive region with entrenched competition." Continue on for the first "Live Your Moment" ad, if you dare, to see if your "re-appraisal of the platform" is significantly driven. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5054498&view=rss&microfeed=true

With the exception of Sony's "U R Not E" campaign and the inflicting of Saliva's godawful "Ladies and Gentlemen" upon us a countless number of times this year, we're generally fans of the PlayStation marketing machine. We even kind of liked the "This Is Living" series of non sequitors that annoyed UK gamers in 2007. That said, we're having a hard time wrapping our string of brain cells around the "Matrjoska" print ad running in Spain. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5053381&view=rss&microfeed=true

Now that EA Sports has begun running ads featuring real gamers promoting the titles, investment blog The Motley Fool has decided to have a little bit of fun at their expense. "Nerdy smackdowns have been bringing the funny since Napoleon Dynamite became a big-screen hit," says the site. Shudder. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5029287&view=rss&microfeed=true

31 complaints against a TV ad for Take-Two's Bully: Scholarship Edition were dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority. The complainants said that the ads "glorified and trivialized" bullying, but the ASA found that the ads themselves were not in violation of any standards. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5023432&view=rss&microfeed=true

A landmark study conducted by Nielsen BASES and Nielsen Games on behalf of in-game advertising giant IGA Worldwide has found that not only is in-game advertising super-effective, most people don't seem to mind it. The study, titled Consumers’ Experience with In-Game Content & Brand Impact of In-Game Advertising Study, found that 82% of consumers exposed to in-game ads felt that the games were just as enjoyable with ads as they were without. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5017142&view=rss&microfeed=true

Damn you, clever advertisers! Normally I'm immune to the charms of viral marketing. But give me a dramatic, nonsensical image and throw some things to find in it and...growing...weak...must...waste...time... More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=376135&view=rss&microfeed=true

According to the latest report by analyst group eMarketer, the in-game ad industry will grow to $650 million by 2012, more than doubling 2007's $295 million. eMarketer attributes the growth to the overall growth of the video game industry, with game launches overshadowing other big media events. Most recently, Halo 3 generated more in first day sales than the opening weekend of Spiderman 3 (the biggest opening weekend in history) and the first-day sales of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (the final installment in the series). More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=363553&view=rss&microfeed=true

Sony has announced that managing the PlayStation 3's dynamic in-game ads will be a farmed out proposition. Instead of controlling the ads/market by forcing publishers to buy through them (as Microsoft does with the 360 through their company Massive), Sony will be opening their platform to all three big competitors in the market: Fusion, IGA and AdScape. While this news won't matter much for us as gamers, it's great news for publishers who can only benefit from advertisers fighting over a piece of their pie in the $400 million in-game advertising market. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=360864&view=rss&microfeed=true