Misleading marketing has been going on as long as there have been products to be sold or an advantage to be gained. It seems to be a part of every aspect of our lives these days. You can't watch TV for 20 minutes without seeing some sort of ad for a seemingly gourmet burger that actually looks and tastes like 0 effort was put into its quality or how 1 in 4 relationships start online but never really state that they start due to dating websites. It has become so normal that it is pretty much expected for any advertising to be BS, at least in part. There are even laws against false advertising, that any company can be called out for, and one involving the Vita that I received compensation for.
There is difference between misleading and false advertising, and sometimes it's so small that it's really hard to tell. Marketing companies come up with ingenious phrasing and misdirection all the time to stay on the legal side of the issue while still getting the point across. In addition to being patently misleading, a positive quote from a pretty insignificant source(BioGamerGirl) will get propped up front and center in a huge ad to put as many positive words on screen as possible. This thread is for discussing misleading marketing tactics used in video games.
Marketing isn't just advertisement. It happens nearly every time that someone who has any stake in a product speaks about said product. I have actually watched Dev Diaries, which are supposed to be a behind the scenes look at game development, being framed as almost a trailer for the game. There are also those that are very put off by the dissonance of publishing heads and the games media acting as if we're all in some sort of "gaming in crowd" with one face, and then turning around and masterfully deceiving the consumer.
Kotaku has an article up with an out of context quote being used for advertising The Division:
"Blows Destiny out of the Water" - Gamezone
The quote links to the article which is discussing how the beta population for The Division of 6.4 million is much more than Destiny's 4.6 million. The quote is clearly meant to infer that Gamezone is comparing the quality of both games. There have also been others pointed out by users here.
Evolve
Destiny
The Evil Within
And who can forget the amazing Arkham City GotY Edition cover:
In addition to quotes, there are issues like the Watch_Dogs downgrade, the Forza demo booting to Windows at E3, etc. which are just as bad as some words on screen during a commercial and deserve to also be called out.
This behavior is something that shouldn't be acceptable in any industry, and especially in one that's supposed to be as close-knit and about passion as the gaming industry is. Now you could argue that the marketing isn't aimed at "us gamers", and we shouldn't really care, but I believe that it still presents a bad look, and being thought of in the same light as the film industry as far as scummy actions go isn't really something to strive for.
I would like for anyone with more insight as to how much marketing and out-of-context box quotes can influence sales and those with more examples to call out to participate. Try to keep the discussion to tactics that are actually misleading, and not just that you don't agree with. Also, it would be preferred if the source comes from the publisher's own marketing material, not just the media as the "good ole' boys club" is well documented there.
Are there any others with insight into the process of using quotes or material from media outlets? Even allowing a misrepresented quote into marketing material seems like a win-win, if the outlet cares more about exposure than its integrity.
Credit goes to RexNovis for the original thread idea.
There is difference between misleading and false advertising, and sometimes it's so small that it's really hard to tell. Marketing companies come up with ingenious phrasing and misdirection all the time to stay on the legal side of the issue while still getting the point across. In addition to being patently misleading, a positive quote from a pretty insignificant source(BioGamerGirl) will get propped up front and center in a huge ad to put as many positive words on screen as possible. This thread is for discussing misleading marketing tactics used in video games.
Marketing isn't just advertisement. It happens nearly every time that someone who has any stake in a product speaks about said product. I have actually watched Dev Diaries, which are supposed to be a behind the scenes look at game development, being framed as almost a trailer for the game. There are also those that are very put off by the dissonance of publishing heads and the games media acting as if we're all in some sort of "gaming in crowd" with one face, and then turning around and masterfully deceiving the consumer.
Kotaku has an article up with an out of context quote being used for advertising The Division:
"Blows Destiny out of the Water" - Gamezone
The quote links to the article which is discussing how the beta population for The Division of 6.4 million is much more than Destiny's 4.6 million. The quote is clearly meant to infer that Gamezone is comparing the quality of both games. There have also been others pointed out by users here.
Evolve
Destiny
The Evil Within
And who can forget the amazing Arkham City GotY Edition cover:
This one isn't that egregious, but looking at Metacritic, Arkham City was the #1 rated PS3 game that year. Skyrim and Portal 2 actually beat it out on 360 and PC, yet the box art is meant to convey that it's the consensus best game out.
In addition to quotes, there are issues like the Watch_Dogs downgrade, the Forza demo booting to Windows at E3, etc. which are just as bad as some words on screen during a commercial and deserve to also be called out.
This behavior is something that shouldn't be acceptable in any industry, and especially in one that's supposed to be as close-knit and about passion as the gaming industry is. Now you could argue that the marketing isn't aimed at "us gamers", and we shouldn't really care, but I believe that it still presents a bad look, and being thought of in the same light as the film industry as far as scummy actions go isn't really something to strive for.
I would like for anyone with more insight as to how much marketing and out-of-context box quotes can influence sales and those with more examples to call out to participate. Try to keep the discussion to tactics that are actually misleading, and not just that you don't agree with. Also, it would be preferred if the source comes from the publisher's own marketing material, not just the media as the "good ole' boys club" is well documented there.
Are there any others with insight into the process of using quotes or material from media outlets? Even allowing a misrepresented quote into marketing material seems like a win-win, if the outlet cares more about exposure than its integrity.
Credit goes to RexNovis for the original thread idea.
