Topic

Totally theoretical discussion: How would "small" product placement make you feel?

Now, to be clear, I have seen NO WHERE that Tiny Speck is thinking about this. But it seems like one of those ideas that will come up if (1) Glitch is struggling or (2) Glitch does really well.*

I'm going to present two examples of small product placement ideas (not proposals, just examples) and I'm curious to how people would feel about them.

EXAMPLE A: So the new Batman movie comes out next Summer. And Warner Bro/DC cross promotes with Tiny Speck with clothes. You can buy a Batman suit! Or a Catwoman suit (yes, yes, we have a cat lady's suit now... but this would be official!)! Or Bane! They are one pricey range but, hey, you can dress up like Batman!

EXAMPLE B: This one is potentially feels slightly more sinister. Pepsi is launching a new type of Mountain Dew (i don't know, let's call it Dew3D, since 3D is all the rage). In partnership with Glitch, vendors now sell tiny cans of the stuff for a limited time. Maybe it makes it so you can surf on the backs of pigs.

How do these make you feel?

*(edit - When I say "that will come up," I don't really mean from anyone in Tiny Speck. I mostly mean from outside forces.)
(edit - just realized I wrote "product" as "protect")

Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • +1 example A. I'd love to be able to dress my glitch up in yellow spandex, a jedi robe or spiderman suit, a care-bear or smurf outfit.

    Mwah about example B. I wouldn't want to have softdrinks like Coca Cola ingame, and especially not if you got energy / mood from it (as it's not a very healthy drink actually.) If it would be in the game, it should have like + on mood, - on energy.
    Anyway, I wouldn't like products which are very similar to a certain brand coffee, unless it's very spoofed or ridiculed, which I doubt the companies would like.
    Posted 17 months ago by Miriamele Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Eureka, yeah I get that it's a spoof. I just think it's interesting that no one gives a thought to that real world presence being in the game, but heaven forbid a can of Coke should enter the Elysian Fields of their Glitch paradise.
    Posted 17 months ago by serfer0 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @sefer0 - I don't have expectations of political correctness in the Glitch. That's one of the things that makes it whimsical. Can you think of a more relevant equal to George Foreman for Boxer-branded grill purposes? You're making it sound like the developers' addition of the Mike Tyson Grill is tantamount to them supporting rape (for which he served his time).

    I get that you have an issue with an spoof grill branded with Mike Tyson's name. You should probably discuss this with the developers, because it seems like it's disrupting your good time in the Elysian Fields of Glitch. It does not, however, have anything to do with product placement. It's not like: If a Mike Tyson spoof item is ok, then product placement should be ok, and if product placement is not ok, then it follows that the spoofy Mike Tyson grill is not ok.
    Posted 17 months ago by Eureka Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Usually when sites start with product placement, they end up changing their site drastically, as the sponsors don't want certain content associated with their product.   No innuendo, no swearing, no free discussions on forums. Everything has to be family friendly for certain products to advertise.  
    So unless we want to end up as Neopets v2. I personally think it's not something I'd like to see. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ebil speaks the truth. Also, those spicy spice trees and chiiiiillllllllllll gas plants will have to get a whole new set of one liners. Purple flowers and NoNo powder probably would also make the no-no list for advertisers.  I'm loling thinking about nono powder being sponsored by Coke.
    Posted 17 months ago by Eureka Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It would make me feel like Glitch would be going the way of Neopets and, thus, utterly crappy.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I much prefer to see Glitch do so well that it is the other way round and coca- cola are asking Glitch it to be put on its advert. McDonald's happy meal comes with a glitch toy etc. But please no-no to it coming into game play here. :)
    Posted 17 months ago by Misha Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Whoa, Eureka. Let's dial this back a bit. All I said was I think it is interesting that there is this one real world thing in the game, so why not other real world things.
    "You're making it sound like the developers' addition of the Mike Tyson Grill is tantamount to them supporting rape (for which he served his time)."
    Uh, no. Also: Jesus, what is wrong with you?
    Once again, clearer this time, just for you:
    The feeling I get from the responses in this thread is that there is a huge dislike of things from the real world entering the game.
    But here is this thing, the real grill named after a real dude (who happens to be a bad dude), in the game and no one seems to mind. The 'whimsical' nature of Glitch was interrupted for me the first day when I saw Tyson's name. As far as I can recall, the grill is the only item in the whole game that references a real person. (Besides the Ayn Rand doll which I don't count because it's not active) Why not the Cassius Clay Grill? Or the Sugar Ray Grill? Or the Wladimir Klitschko Grill? (Which I think would be a funnier mouthful) The devs decided not to give this item a 'whimsical' name and the name they chose is rather controversial, as evinced by your post. Simply put, it was an anomaly that I noted that took me out of the game world setting.
    But the presence of ads for stuff that a lot of us use would be a big deal?
    I think that's interesting. That's all.

    p.s. There's a lot of 'bait' in your post that I'm not going to nibble on (Tyson's punishment, my perceived 'issues' with the game).
    And I suggest that no one else nibble on them either.
    Cuz I suspect you're kind of a troll.
    Posted 17 months ago by serfer0 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • sefer0, disliking what I have to say does not make me a troll, I have said nothing trollish, I have not baited you, I've made no personal attacks.

    I have indulged your topic about the political correctness of a mike tyson grill enough and have no desire to respond to continue to do so at the level to which you have ratcheted this up; this is not the venue for personal attacks. I prefer to continue discussing the very interesting topic of product placement with the rest of the glitchizens discussing it in this thread, and with you, if you care to discuss product placement instead of disgust over spoof item namesakes (which isn't to say you shouldn't be able to discuss it, but it's a separate topic; make a separate thread).

    So carry on all, and I hope you have a relaxing day, sefer0.
    Posted 17 months ago by Eureka Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I see where serfer0 is going with this, because I was about to respond to this thread with the argument that you can't have real-life product placement in a completely separate fantasy world that is not suppose to be connected to real life, when I realized that the existence of the Mike Tyson Grill totally negates that argument. If the giants can dream up something related to a real-life person, why not dream up some Pepsi too? Also, there are other examples, like pac-man decorations in homes and particular clothing items, as already mentioned. 

    My personal feelings would be that I wouldn't be utterly against this sort of thing, although it does damage the whimsical escape of the fantasy world.
    Posted 17 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sheperdmoon speaks wisely.   I guess it has to do with intent.  The intent of the Mike Tyson grill's presence is not to alert you to the existence of one you could purchase at your local Wal-mart, or to let you know about a special fight that Mike Tyson is participating in and you can get a discount if you use the coupon code TYSONGRILL at checkout.  (Yes, I know he doesn't fight any more).

    The intent is to spoof the George Foreman Grill, and possibly to give a nod to George from Flickr, who used to have an account with that name (I think, can't quite remember?).  And I love it.  And Pac-Man furniture, while not my personal taste, gave me the warm fuzzies when I first beheld it in my first ever Glitch home.

    The intent should match the spirit of the game, imo, which I believe includes making you laugh and sometimes acknowledging truly awesome things from the RW, e.g. Pac Man.   Somehow that doesn't square with a coupon for Subway sandwiches (hey! but we can make them look like subway tickets!  And you only get them on the Subway, get it? Subway sandwich, Subway car.....er, not really)

    And besides, I haven't gotten the sense that Glitch is going for that kind of mass appeal.  I mean...Gaga Glitch?  There's no way that is what they are shooting for with this game.  
    Posted 17 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My first reaction would be: please, no!

    But on second thought, it wouldn't really influence my gameplay. If they don't force it upon me... It didn't really bother me in the Sims 3, because it was just optional downloadable content. But in FarmVille they got really pushy, forcing you to interact with the advertisements to complete certain quests.

    That doesn't mean I approve of promotional content/ advertisements, but I wouldn't stop playing either if it was subtle and interacting with this content would be opional.
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +10000 again Nanookie
    Posted 17 months ago by Eureka Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No product placement.  If a real person wants to play a Glitch character and have a way to offer in-game goods and services, fine.

    If one of those goods or services is also available IRL, then I'd like Glitch to draw the line right there, just before we get to real life.  Even Glitch-related items shouldn't be offered in game (get your Glitch t-shirt right here, without leaving the game)
    Posted 17 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I might buy clothing or household items but have no interest in buying soft drinks in game or out of it.  I might not buy any Batman outfits but would buy Sex And the City fashons - Lol!
    Posted 17 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Eureka. Nope, don't care to say anything else.
    You have a nice relaxing day, too.
    Posted 17 months ago by serfer0 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @striatic - Thank you for the link to that article. It was really interesting.
    Posted 17 months ago by Crucial Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I wouldn't want product placement in the game itself, but a tiny ad in an unused portion of the screen, like the bottom right, wouldn't bother me.  I occasionally support my favorite sites by clicking on ads on them, and I'd be happy to do the same for Glitch. 
    Posted 17 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Okay. Let's blur the line. Even more.

    Take a look at my avatar. For those familiar, it is clear that I am going for a certain look: Doctor Who (series 5, "The Big Bang," to be precise). I've obviously put this together from bits and pieces from clothes.

    But what if Steven Moffat turns out to be a fan of Glitch and asks them to design Doctor Who outfits? Same style and everything... except now they are official. And then what if it comes not from Moffat, but from the BBC?

    What if you had the elements to put together Harry Potter-styled outfits? What if they were sanctioned by JK Rowling? What if they were sanction by Warner Bros.?

    What if Lady Gaga wore the Baby Doll Whispers dress in the real world?
    Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, I want my Glitch to look like Smurfette. I have no idea why. I just saw blue, thought smurf--very uncreative, I know.
    But I remember some game (City of Heroes?) having a problem with Marvel over characters looking like their characters, and there was a lawsuit. Using licensed characters is unpossible without permission, afaik.
    Posted 17 months ago by Crucial Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @LBO: I am more in favor of players putting together an homage with suggestive pieces (like you have done) than having the official sanctioned licensed version.  I think your version has much more charm than any sort of slavish digital reproduction of the original would.

    other examples:  players who want to re-create Rocky Horror characters with similar costumes (still want to do that, btw) or Lilla My, a player I met recently who is approximating a Moominland character named Little My.  She doesn't have a cookie cutter version of Little My, but it was close enough that it caught my eye and I warmed to her because I saw a common interest.   

    Your adept line blurring has backed me into a purely subjective opinion, which isn't much use in a discussion like this.  I have been reduced to, "I don't know *why* I don't like it, but I don't."  
    Posted 17 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just a reminder, the grilling tool is a spoofified version of a real product. And every time I use it I think of that product. It can be done if done tastefully.

    And advertising Glitch-related products in-game would, indeed, be very tack, but a menu option in these pages of the regular player portion of the web site would be acceptable. In fact it would place well on the subscription section of the site. :) It would help support the game, it would really appeal to the players, and such things are just fun. :D
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • First: Little My! Oh, that is so awesome. (Huge Moomin here. Huge.)

    I also think this is a very valid issue to have the argument be "I don't like it because it just feels wrong." Note that stoot says, "It's just... I don't know, it seems kind of gross."

    I haven't actually given my opinion yet so here we go:

    I have mostly thought of this in relationship to clothes since so many of them feel like "costumes." And I definitely feel the way Nanookie does: I like being able to put together a "look" that plays homage to something without it being official. And as we get more and more element the more and more that will possible. 

    I am curious as to how close legally you can get. The City of Heroes thing is a good example: They created such flexible tools that you could make someone look just Wolverine or Spiderman or whomever. There is a good chance Marvel wouldn't have really cared if they weren't developing Marvel Online (or whatever it is). Chances are my Doctor Who look is unimpeachable - it's a guy in a coat with a fez. But say they added a black cape. With the black knight garb, you are getting closer and closer to Darth Vader. Sit that next to the Peasant Hero and Mr. G. Lucas might start dialing the lawyers. Which is a complete and utter shame. (Legally, TS might be total okay because of satire/parody laws... but they are extremely sketchy and ill-defined. TS might be totally fine but whether or not they'd want to get into a costly legal battle to prove it is another matter. On the other hand, these thing usually start with a simple cease & desist.)

    But even in the case with us putting together our own references to pop culture/whatevers, we are, in a way, product placing into the world... just on the sly and with out any official endorsement. Already, in someway, that pulls me OUT of the immersiveness of the world. This comes from my trying to "understand" the world, even in its madness. Crazy insane weirdness makes total logical sense. Has more and more "real world" elements get placed, the more I twitch a bit.

    But I also love a good bit of humor and references ("pulling mussels from a shell" for example). And, if you know me at ALL, you know I adore a pun. So I'm not against the vast majority of what I've already seen. I can rationalize it into the world.

    And that gets me to the Mike Tyson Grill. It HAS always bothered me a bit. Not for the context Mike Tyson has in the real world (that is a WHOLE other discussion). It is that he IS a real person in our world. Poking fun at the George Foreman Grill makes perfect sense (although it is currently the ONLY tool that actively realtes to a real world product). But, in my mind, Mike Tyson now exists in the world of Glitch. And that is weird to me. And removes me a touch from the world. As would Mountain Dew in the game.
    Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I play City of Heroes, @Lord Bacon-o. I remember the lawsuit by Marvel. Marvel lost, especially when it got found out that the Marvel-character lookalikes were actually Marvel employees doing it. And I'm sure Tiny Speck, Like the makers of the City of Heroes game, probably has a clause against that very thing in their TOS.
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "...especially when it got found out that the Marvel-character lookalikes were actually Marvel employees doing it."

    I did not know this and it is hilarious to me.
    Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's interesting... You think you're looking at fans and you're really looking at an advertising campaign.. I was in the Halloween parade in NYC one year, and there were a group of Borak look-alikes, one of whom elbowed me quite sharply. Then some people told me that was an advertising campaign, actors dressed up to advertise the film in the parade. I imagine the guy who elbowed me might have been thinking "I'm being payed to be seen, I need to keep my spot...." One doesn't always know the facts of a situation, though...
    Posted 17 months ago by sakmet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @striatic - role playing? Bondage items and stuff? I've encountered that association before! And it's actually fairly recent. I play Dungeons & Dragons (over 30 years). It, and several other games, are defined as RPGs (MMORPGs anyone? City of Heroes, Runescape, Dungeons & Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, etc.) RPG stands for "Role Playing Games". In the early days I could go online and say "I play role playing games" and I wouldn't get some of the strange responses I get more lately. I wind of having to explain things to those people at length. A lot of them have almost never heard of the games I play or their earlier claim to the term. Just a pet peeve of mine.
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd hate direct advertising in the game,but the idea of in-direct advertising by using spoofs, intrigues me. Seeing a pair of shoes called 'Gators' made me smile,and if they 'decorated' the subway with spoofed RL products,that would make me smile too,but if I had to look at flashy RL ads for RL items,that would irritate the hell out of me.
    eta: As far as the grill goes,changing its name,and using a less controversial boxer's name instead,sounds like a good idea to me. The Cassius Clay Grill,hmm,sounds...delicious! Ketchup anyone?
    Posted 17 months ago by ~Scilly~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This discussion is making me think of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny... and www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn... both of which probably most of you have seen before.
    In the game Neopets, there was a Macy Gray pet that you could own until Macy Gray threatened a lawsuit. I guess it's possible Mike Tyson could do the same with Tiny Speck. I don't know.
    Getting back to the main topic, I have to admit that I dislike billboards in real life very much, and if I had to put up with giant signs or ads in Glitch, that would make me unhappy. But the idea of a small thing that you can choose to use or not, like clothing, or an item, that wouldn't bother me. Now a Mt. Dew tree, or Mt. Dew Mountain, that would make me throw up in my mouth a little, as others have said. Especially if the trees became ubiquitous. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Crucial Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I also have to admit that the mau5 heads were fucking brilliant. BRILLIANT. I LOVE Deadmau5 and have always wanted to purchase a real mau5head. Too bad I don;t have millions and millions of dollars.

    But still, it's not for the sake of advertising. It's more for the sake of novelty, from what I can tell. I also love the 8-bit references.

    But once it gets to the level where a can of Coca Cola is being thrown at my face and is replacing quoins for bonus points and crap... then that's crossing the line, lol.

    Though there should be a cola in the game called No-No Cola.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Though there should be a cola in the game called No-No Cola."

    heh, awsum.
    Posted 17 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Coke originally was made with cocaine, until I think around 1932 when the criminalized most drugs that worked.  Liquor had become legal again and they needed a new bad guy for all the feds, e.g. Eliot Ness, to chase.  Couldn't put them on unemployment and let all that training go to waste.  See my college education taught me a few practical things.  lol  
    Posted 17 months ago by xoxJulie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 for NoNo Cola! LOL! =)
    Posted 17 months ago by ~Scilly~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 for NoNo Cola!
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fokian, I don't call them RPGs any more either. Not because of the bondage? issue. I have never ran into that. Maybe nerd/geek culture is bigger where I live, IDK. But more or less, if you say RPG people feel you're referring to vidya games. So, I call them PNP or Pen and Paper games. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Mr. Dawgg Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Poking fun at the George Foreman Grill makes perfect sense (although it is currently the ONLY tool that actively realtes to a real world product)

    While not a tool, there's also crabato (clamato). Btw, I keep waiting for a recipe to shake spicy grog, spinach (in place of celery) and a can of crabato to make a spicy Caesar!!
    Posted 17 months ago by Eureka Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Mr. Dawgg - They'll always be RPGs to me :) The video game versions are still RPGs, and I do find myself distinguishing sometimes. Since I play D&D Online and have a "PNP" (which is a transistor type and I automatically think of that instead - the term has been used in electronics since before the 1950s!) campaign I've run for over 10 years, I'm often talking about this online.

    @Eureka - Ooh! Good recipe idea! I like! I like!
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PNP means party & play in gay internet lingo. Party & play means drugs and sex. Just FYI, lol.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I also thought of the Crabato/Clamato juice, and scrolling through the game's Wiki for items, I can see Gators/Crocs, Tinkertool/Tinkertoy, Applejack/Apple Jacks, Bugsbury/Cadsbury... I saw all these things as bits of wordplay and whimsy, and none were jolting enough to pull me out of gamespace.
    Posted 17 months ago by Lilith Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think that is it: Word play removes it into an alternate world. In the same way that if we "create" a pop culture look from other bits a pieces of clothes, it is just enough distant it is not jaring. BUT Mike Tyson Grill is not word play. A "George Fourdude Grill" might be.  (I want to say also that this is not a big deal to me at all. It's just interesting for me to think of why things affect me in one way or the other.)
    Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Lord Bacon-o - I'm in agreement I don't like the name of the grill as much as it's kind of jarring in the context of the game. Your suggestion is perfect I think. Enough of a word play without going too far.

    @Cerulean - I'm worried how you would even know that association! :p (yes, I've read your Google+ postings ;) )
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Fokian -- I need to know what to avoid. :P There is so much lingo... bears, wolves, otters, chasers, chubs, etc. LOL. Then again, I avoid a lot of gay guys on all dating sites because they all-too-often only want one thing... -___-"
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There is a sketch in there somewhere. Could even be touching. The moment two people on a date realize one meant party and play and the other meant pen and paper.
    Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • LMAO Bacon-O I was imagining the same thing. One shows up with drugs and the other a D20, lmao, and the one with drugs is in nothing but tiny leather shorts and suspenders and the Role-Player would probably look like a total dweeb (in this sketch, NOT in actuality, ahaha). I've (unfortunately) known far too many people that played table-top RPGs and also had far too much NSA/anon sex while on drugs. Ugh.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Heh, LBO - "OH - when you said pen, you meant... PEN."
    Posted 17 months ago by jasbo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Cerulean, me too, actually. (This is SO off topic.) Once during college, sat in on a game with a game master and two other players. The tension was super weird and awkward. Only later did I find out they'd had a druken/high threesome the night before and it had gotten very very weird.
    Posted 17 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If it's in the form of adding a new dimension to the environment, it could work (ads in the subway, for example), but it's obviously a touchy issue.  Certainly the products would have to be chosen with care.

    I was playing a spacey-type MMORPG a while ago and I was in a public space where a digital billboard was posted.  There were occasional real-life commercials mixed in with the atmospheric fictional ones, and I actually learned about a television show I'd like to watch from it.

    The memory has stuck with me, because it was the kind of "virtual reality" experience that had been promised for decades, but for the most part still hasn't come to fruition.  I suppose as long as there's a keyboard and mouse between you and the action, we won't be having Snow Crash-style experiences.
    Posted 17 months ago by Biff Beefbat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I wonder what kind of player ads would pop up since @stoot barfield suggested it?
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm not sure about in-game items like cans of coke, but I would have no problems with free wardrobe items related to movie promotions. 

    Ok, ok, I just really want a princes Leia outfit.
    Posted 17 months ago by FrankenPaula Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This thread has taken a really hilarious turn.
    Posted 17 months ago by larky lion Subscriber! | Permalink