Do You Want Fries With That?

Last year when I heard that Burger King was planning to release a series of video games for the Xbox 360, I thought the game industry was headed for a new low. To me, this went way beyond the shameless hordes of promotional tie-ins to popular movies and TV shows, and seemed more inappropriate than the solicitation of virtual product placement within a video game. Here was a giant fast food chain attempting to sell full-fledged console games to the general public that were literally nothing more than interactive advertisements. Who did they think they were kidding?

I certainly didn't expect what happened next. The three games (Sneak King, Pocketbike Racer, and Big Bumpin'), developed by Blitz Games, went on to amass double platinum sales and helped give The King a $38 million boost to his quarterly earnings. I don't know what their development costs were like, but I think it's safe to say the BK games were a big success. And before I could criticize anyone for supporting such a despicable cause, I actually plunked down $3.99 of my own to see what all the fuss was all about. I guess you could call it morbid curiosity, but I prefer the more socially acceptable excuse that I was only doing it for the achievement points. But you know what? I have to admit that the game was actually a lot of fun in its own right, amusing in an ironic sense, but also genuinely addictive. That's when I realized that Burger King was sitting on a real whopper here.

The truth is, "advergames" are not really a new concept. In recent years, plenty of companies have gotten hip to the idea of using Flash games on their websites with the hopes of hooking in visitors and convincing them to pass the URL along to their friends. Even before that, back in the 80's, marketing gurus were already experimenting with this daring method of reaching out to the kids. As we await the next wave of pixel-shaded promotions, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the previous entries in this emerging commercially-savvy genre of game.

Pepsi Invaders (Atari 2600, 1979)
According to the legend, a game called Pepsi Invaders may indeed be the very first advergame ever created. It was a hack of Space Invaders, developed by Atari at the request of Coca-Cola, in which most of the aliens were actually shaped like the letters P-E-P-S-I. After clearing a stage the message "Coke Wins" would flash on the screen. The game was never intended for commercial release (probably a good thing, since the game was named after Coca-Cola's competitors) and only 125 copies were produced to be given to Coca-Cola's employees in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2005, a copy of Pepsi Invaders sold on E-bay for $1,825.

Kool Aid Man (Atari 2600 / Intellivision, 1983)
Oh yeah! Throughout the ‘80s we were treated to a series of TV commercials featuring a giant talking pitcher of liquid refreshment who smashed through walls at crucial moments to relieve people's thirst. As a kid, I don't remember thinking such things were at all out of the ordinary. In 1983, two different Kool Aid-themed games were created for both the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. The Atari game featured the Kool Aid Man himself doing battle with "the Thirsties", who use straws to try and drink all your Kool Aid. I vaguely remember this game being available only by collecting a ridiculous number of Kool-Aid points. I collected them for years and never even came close.
 
Chase the Chuckwagon (Atari 2600, 1983)
Would you believe me if I told you that a dog food company had also created an Atari game as a marketing tie-in? Common logic would dictate that most players of Atari games are not the people who buy dog food for the family pet, but that didn't stop Ralston-Purina from releasing Chase the Chuck Wagon as a special promotional campaign for Purina Dog Chow. Guide Chuckie through a maze towards the chuck wagon, but make sure the dogcatcher doesn't lay a hand on him! If you're successful, his reward is a bowl of Dog Chow, and a nice helping of bonus points. Not surprisingly, this title has gone on to become one of the more rare Atari games out there, a true collector's find.

Yo! Noid (NES, 1990)
For as long as I can remember, Domino's Pizza has always been one of the most popular pizza franchises around, and throughout the ‘80s they were virtually everywhere thanks in part to their highly successful claymation ads featuring The Noid. The Noid was a troublemaker dressed in a red outfit with long ears who tried to ruin people's pizzas. I suppose it was inevitable that the Noid would get his own video game, and in 1990 Capcom released Yo! Noid for the NES. This game put you in control of the Noid himself, on a mission to defeat his evil clone, armed with a yo-yo and his patented "Pizza Crusher" pogo-stick. It was a little known fact that the game was actually just a translated version of a pre-existing Capcom game that was released in Japan called Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru (Masked Ninja Hanamaru). Most of the gameplay remained unchanged from the original (which explains the existence of magic scrolls as power-ups), although the level ending card game duels became pizza-eating contests instead. Yo! Noid was also preceded by a PC game called Avoid The Noid in 1989.

M.C. Kids (NES, 1992)
A lot of people no doubt remember this McDonald's-themed game, which was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. Somehow McDick's convinced legions of kids to get their parents to pay full price for this cartridge, which was in many ways just a Super Mario Bros clone featuring a racially-mixed pair of kids named Mick and Mack instead of Mario and Luigi (It's pronounced "Em-Cee Kids", not McKids because they're supposed to be, like, rappers or something). The main objective was to help Ronald McDonald get his magical bag back from the Hamburglar, but McDonald's made the stipulation that there should be no actual food in the game, lest it be perceived as a blatant advertisement (imagine that!). Apparently McDonald's weren't too happy with the final product and ended up abandoning their planned Happy Meal promotional campaign. In some ways it's too bad, because the game had some decent level designs and has since become a bit of a cult classic. M.C. Kids was also released as McDonaldland for the Game Boy in Europe, and was followed by an inferior Sega Genesis/Mega Drive sequel called Mick & Mack: Global Gladiators, which had strong environmentalist undertones.

Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool / Wild, Wild Quest (SNES and Sega Genesis, 1992 / 1993)
Throughout the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the main spokesperson for Cheetos was a slick animated feline wearing sunglasses named Chester Cheetah. He eventually found his way into a couple of video games on the SNES and Sega Genesis around this time as well, although the Frito-Lay people certainly did not have the same qualms as McDonald's about putting the actual food product front and center. Chester is on a quest to recover parts of his stolen motorcycle, eating Cheetos along the way, while he also occasionally dabbles with power-ups like an electric guitar (which induces a temporary frenzy of invincible headbanging). In case you haven't noticed, the game has a definite overload of cool, which explains why Chester Cheetah is Too Cool to Fool. Both this and its sequel, Wild, Wild Quest, were developed by Japan's Kaneko Co, Ltd., and as a result the dialogue was rife with amusing Engrish phrases.

Cool Spot (SNES and Sega Genesis, 1993)
7up also had a cool mascot as well: a red circle with sunglasses who starred in his own game called Cool Spot. It was a platform game that was praised at the time for having impressive graphics and smooth animation; the gameplay involved shooting soda bubbles and jumping around to collect other "cool spots". They also made a Sega Mega Drive video game based on the short-lived Fido Dido character (I hear he's making a comeback).

Chex Quest (PC, 1996)
In 1996, Ralston-Purina returned with a PC game that has managed to amass perhaps biggest following of any advergame to date. Chex Quest was a 3D first-person shooter based on the Doom engine that was packed in specially marked boxes of Chex cereal. As the Chex Warrior, you must defend the planet Bazoik from invading Flemoids -- gross, green booger-like creatures that are consuming all of the nutritious food from the IFC (Intergalactic Federation of Cereals). This game spawned an official internet-only sequel, and various unofficial fan-made spin-offs. As strange as it sounds, there is still a large community trying to expand on this game and preserve it for future generations.

Taco Bell: Tasty Temple Challenge (PC, 2000)
Here's another shooter, this time based around the Taco Bell brand if you can believe it (the developer was actually a company called Brand Games). I don't know too much about this game except that you play as Baja Bill and battle your way through a jungle temple using hot sauce! Taco Bell was also involved in another recent series of advergames called Tek Kids Flash-Ops.

America's Army (PC, 2002)
Last but not least, America's Army is a military first-person shooter for the PC that was financed by the U.S. government and originally released back in 2002 as a free download. Sequels and add-ons have continued to be developed every couple of years, with an Xbox version being released in 2005. In some ways, this is the ultimate advergame as not only does it allow the U.S. military to reach out to its target demographic, but it also helps them to train and recruit new soldiers. If that's not a brilliant use of a video game as marketing, then I don't know what is.

Sneak King / Big Bumpin' / Pocketbike Racer (Xbox 360, 2006)
This brings us to the three Burger King games that were released last year, now generally accepted as the highest-profile advergames to date. If anything, these games are a strong indication that video games based on a brand can achieve both commercial and (to a certain extent) critical success, assuming that the game itself is fun. I have come to accept the fact that advergames are here to stay, and are now moving from the online world to the realm of consoles. I'm okay with that. When you think about it, they really are no different than any other form of licensed game -- it's all a question of how creative you get with the license. While, in theory, I would still draw the line at paying full price for an advergame, I suppose it would ultimately depend on how entertaining the game actually is.

At the very least, advergames somehow feel less insidious than growing game industry practices such as in-game advertising, for the simple fact that they don't hide their raison d'etre. When you're playing Sneak King, there can be no mistaking the fact that it's a Burger King promotion, plain and simple. As long as the actual gameplay engages you, however, the blatant pandering quickly fades into the background.

This begs the question: is it possible for an advergame to be so engaging that the player misses out on the message? There are many studies currently being conducted to determine the effectiveness of advergaming, and so far, the results seem encouraging. Not only do they improve brand awareness, but they can also explain technical details about a product without seeming forced. In many ways, the lack of force is the key to the true potential of advergames. Today's youth are street savvy and resistant to anything they perceive as being a direct marketing ploy. With advergames, advertisers can let the audience come to them on their own terms, possibly even pay for it, and then as a bonus, they do the majority of the legwork to help spread the word too. Not too shabby!

Whether or not gamers will eventually become disillusioned by advergames remains to be seen, but for the moment, it's up to the developers to ensure that the quality measures up to other video games on the market today. Given the commitment that a lot of companies are making to this new opportunity, I'd say the future is bright. Just don't complain if, the next time you play a game, Master Chief is running into battle wearing Reeboks while he mounts that last stand against the Nike flood.

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Sean Dwyer slipped a junior whopper in your pocket when you weren't looking. He is also employed as a video game programmer, and in his spare time writes about movies and media over at FilmJunk.com.

Tags: advertizing , animation , Atari , edutainment , food , games , Intellivision , Japan , Mario , military , NES , ninjas , nintendo , PCs , promotion , propaganda , Sega , space , Xbox