Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - More on the CDC campaign against gamers

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Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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More on the CDC campaign against gamers

by Ian Bogost March 19, 2006

categories: Health & Medicine Games

Last month I pointed to the CDC's new advertising campaign, Give Your Thumbs a Rest, Play for Real. I argued that the campaign is ill conceived and detrimental to their overall project; vilifying gamers won't earn them any ears. Joystiq also pointed out that the CDC themselves are using videogames for training and education, mixing the message even more.

I've managed to dig up a few other images from the campaign, perhaps all of them. The first, which I showed in the original post, depicts overweight baseballers in stained uniforms idle and cookout on a sullied, overgrown infield. The second shows a forgotten and overrun NASCAR track with superimposed driving HUD. And the third shows an ill-kempt soccer field. Click on the small thumbnails below for a larger view.

Looking at the new ads, I'm even more confused by the campaign. Does the CDC want gamers to go out and race real cars? That hardly seems useful. Or perhaps to revitalize decrepit sports arenas through voluntary (and physically active) community service? The overweight baseball players at least telegraphed the intended message. I'm not sure that the other ads do anything more than showcase the agency's ability to create effective parodies of videogame environments.

Comments (5)

It just seems like they are putting absolutely no thought at all into this campaign- between the hypocrisy, confusing messages, and ineffective arguments, it really should fall apart any minute now.

Joshua Strully on March 20, 2006 3:59 PM

I'm still confused by what they intend the images to convey. They're really well done and I enjoy looking them, but what is the message?

Are the baseball players fat because video games make you fat? Or are they fat because their human player has abandoned them to play outside in the sunlight?

If it's the latter this could just as easily be an advertisement for opposing games, making the whole thing sort of pointless and vauge. If it's the former then they're just being insulting.

It occurs to me that you could use very similar advertising to make the point that people should play MORE games. Imagine if these were popular Nintendo64 games that were decaying. You could use an image like that for some sort of Nintendo64 revival movement.

Also, just as I was writing this I noticed that the baseball team seems to have at least two players numbered '42'.

Andy L. on March 25, 2006 8:21 PM

Hey its time to strike back-Joe Lieberman is running for reelection and the people in Connecticut who are sick of his demagoging on phony issues such as wanting to censor or ban games like Postal or Grand Theft Auto while continually defending illegal wiretaps sending American jobs to communist China and the premise on which we invaded Iraq are supporting Ned Lamont for senate

http://nedlamont.com/. Maybe you can mention this in your blog and promote it on the interweb or go to his website and donate some money and support. Its payback time for little Joe.

Chris Coughlin on April 3, 2006 1:37 AM

I don't find the images themselves to be confusing. I knew as soon as I saw them that they were meant to be game environments left idle. As for the slogan, the slogan is horrible. It attacks gamers in a matter that would be considered flaming were it a comment on a forum or in a chat room. Had the CDC attempted to understand gamer culture prior to creating the ads, they might have accomplished something other than making fools of themselves.

Heck, in my opinion, a picture of a baseballbat and the text "Give the joypad a break and try out this joystick" would have been better, lame, but better.

---

As for the '42' bit on the baseball jersey's: Since 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything, isn't it fitting in a way?

Matthew Hughes on April 14, 2006 7:07 AM

I'm about 99% positive that this is not a CDC campaign. Knowing a little about the approval process at the CDC and HHS, a negative campaign like this would not get funded let alone approved. Besides there is NO WAY that the government would condone an ad depicting a baseball player peeing on a wall. I don't know where you found the ad but I would be shocked if it came off the CDC.gov website.

Rachel on July 11, 2006 8:51 PM