Report: A Quarter of games on Conan's Clueless Gamer are Paid Endorsement Deals.

[Saty]

http://recode.net/2014/01/24/some-game-companies-pay-for-play-on-conans-clueless-gamer-skits/

Much more at the link.

One source familiar with the show’s practices said about a quarter of the games that were featured on the skit were paid endorsement deals. None of these deals are disclosed to the public.

“These Clueless Gamer segments are not serious reviews nor endorsements — they are strictly comedic sketches,” the show spokesman said in an emailed statement. As such, he added, “We do not believe sponsorship identification is needed.”

 

[RoombaDance]

http://recode.net/2014/01/24/some-game-companies-pay-for-play-on-conans-clueless-gamer-skits/

Much more at the link.

Aren't most late-night endorsements assumed to be advertising deals?

 

[Kintaro]

Aren't most late-night endorsements assumed to be advertising deals?

I would assume everything on late night shows are advertising deals.

 

[Guevara]

People will downplay this, but it's just more evidence that you can't trust anyone.

 

[Loudninja]

I would assume this for every game on these shows.

 

[RE_Player]

People thought they weren't paid for?

 

[Gaz_RB]

lol people thought Conan was doing hard hitting game journalism?

The dude never looks like he gives a shit about the games.

 

[Tagyhag]

I am shocked.

 

[Flame Lord]

...Did we need a report to tell us that? I'm surprised that there are some that aren't paid for.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Um... I thought this was known already. I think it's even called a promotion publically.

 

[Zeeman]

I'm surprised it's only a quarter, honestly.

 

[BigDug13]

"Hey we're going to do a video game comedy segment and your game is on our shortlist of games we want to use for our comedy segment. How much would you be willing to pay for us to choose your game for our segment?"

 

[Ahasverus]

This one goes into "no shit" category

 

[Zia]

I had assumed that they were all paid for.

 

[Somnid]

This isn't news, this is obvious.

 

[Brianimaniac]

You realize that every guest that appears on late night talk shows are also paid endorsement deals?

 

[Foorbits]

I always assumed they were 100% paid endorsements.

 

[Pain]

The sky is blue.

 

[KarmaCow]

The guests on Conan didn't just drop by to just shoot the shit either.

edit: Actually I'm surprised it's that low.

 

[funkystudent]

Only a quarter?

I am surprised its that low.

 

[VariantX]

I'm pretty sure any product that appears on a late night television show is probably a paid endorsement deal of some kind.

 

[kazebyaka]

no shit?

 

[AlphaTwo00]

I had assumed that they were all paid for.

This.

Especially when RE6 showed up a week beforehand.

 

[gngf123]

I assumed that number would be higher.

These kinds of things really should be disclosed, though.

 

[Bedameister]

Only a quarter? Shit I thought all of them were endorsement deals

 

[McDougles]

They explicitly say that developers and publishers go to him to review their games early. Hell, both Conan and Andy were voices in Halo 4. They state in their credits all paid promotions.

"Because clicks," unfortunately, explains this story.

 

[Metalmurphy]

I think everyone knew this was the case as soon as he started doing unreleased games.

 

[Pudge]

People will downplay this, but it's just more evidence that you can't trust anyone.

No shit dude. Especially when you're watching TV. I work for Nielsen, if the brand isn't specifically paid for, it doesn't show up on the screen.

 

[Het_Nkik]

Only a quarter? I think the news here is that some WEREN'T paid endorsements. That's blowing my mind.

 

[Zane]

People will downplay this, but it's just more evidence that you can't trust anyone.

yeah i totally used to trust conan o-fucking-brian's hard-hitting videogame coverage.

 

[Graphics Horse]

People thought they weren't paid for?

Maybe some people did. But I'm pretty sure nobody thought three quarters weren't.

 

[Harlock]

The GTA episode was well worth the money.

 

[Darklord]

People will downplay this, but it's just more evidence that you can't trust anyone.

Trust what exactly? He doesn't review it, he screws around, yells at the game, hits on the women characters, then gives it a "7 pie crusts out of 45 baked potatos" kind of score.

 

[studyguy]

Jimmy Falon and the like don't show off the PS4 or the XBONE games just because they're cool. God no, why would Conan be any different? Everything about late night talk shows is endorsements. They have stars piling in to promote their new movie/show/book/soap/etc.

 

[SJRB]

I thought every game featured on Conan was a paid endorsement deal.

Only 25% is surprisingly few actually.

 

[Silky]

Outrageous.

Not really. This isn't surprising. Can't trust actual enthusiasm of a game on public telivision.

 

[Tookay]

People will downplay this, but it's just more evidence that you can't trust anyone.

Do you trust the movie stars who come on the show to promote their upcoming film?

 

[Stumpokapow]

They all say "from out friends at Microsoft" or "from our friends at Square Enix" or something similar indicating the copy was provided for free but I'm not sure they clarify that it's paid endorsement deals. TV product placement is really disgusting and conspicuous. :/

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Yeah it's more surprising that 75% of the segments aren't paid endorsement deals.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

we already knew.

 

[HoosTrax]

Are any celebs actual legit gamers, out of curiosity? Only one that immediately comes to mind is Vin Diesel, but there's gotta be more than that.

 

[benny_a]

Skyrim and Minecraft were probably legit but fucking Hitman obviously was paid for.

 

[JoeyJungle]

Report: Guests only appear on Conan to advertise their latest show/movie/album

 

[RedAssedApe]

can pretty much eyeball and tell which games were probably paid for.

my guess would be kinetic games, minecraft, atari, and halloween ones (user voted) weren't

 

[The Technomancer]

Honestly less then I expected

 

[Retro_]

I had assumed that they were all paid for.

Well I figured indies like amnesia and slenderman weren't paying Conan for publicity

People will downplay this, but it's just more evidence that you can't trust anyone.

Not really

Just another example of everything on TV being calculated and scripted

Doesn't make it less entertaining though. Just know that it's also a business.

 

[jjp14]

Disgusting. Jay Leno would never do this.

 

[-griffy-]

I thought this was obvious and implied, but perhaps that's because I used to work at a TV station where we produced a talk show of a similar format (more Live with Regis and Kelly style I suppose). But still, I assumed they were all paid, so hearing that only a quarter are is surprising to me.

Is this really surprising to anyone? They are purely comedy bits, he never gives a proper or coherent rating, and several are clearly timed with releases of the games, like Tomb Raider.

 

[Geedorah]

Had assumed 110% of all those skits were paid.

Guess a better thing to ask is which are the titles Conan really wanted to play/rip-on!?

 

[RoombaDance]

Still as obvious as this is, disclosure would be nice.