GTA IV ads pulled down in US

[Weebull]

awesome, now GTA doesn't just cause kids to kill people, it starts gang wars too!

Yes but this one markets to children, didn't you listen to what the man in the video said? Children are playing this and thinking it's ok to steal cars and beat people up.

Wait, isn't this essentially trolling?

...this is about advertising in general for the protection of our children.

Except that the advertising for GTA4 is unquestionably safe. The most suggestive it gets was the woman with the lollipop for San Andreas, and even then it was mostly a head shot. The adverts I've seen for GTA4 have just been the main character posing. GTA games have never tried to advertise their gore or violence or whatever, so what's the problem with those exactly?

 

[manoz]

is that graffiti in your sig ??? omg plz remove as kids may be influenced ...your making my job as a parent so hard.

If the graffiti was an advertisement you'd have a point. It's in french anyway

 

[Amnesia]

If the graffiti was an advertisement you'd have a point. It's in french anyway

its graffiti fullstop...look by now you will have caused 3263428764789534 buildings to have been wrote on...pls your wasting precious time.
do it for the kids!

 

[Tefal]

Sorry but imo thats just plain stupid.

I've been legally allowed to buy & drink alcohol for 13 months but I can't relax and shoot a few people in GTA ?

You're saying 17 year olds, wich in the UK can control true weapons ( cars), can't control virtual ones ?

wait I'm sorry since when could you buy alcohol at 16/17???

 

[bayo000]

at the end of the day what is in that game that the "kids" these days dont do anyway..

this is all rubbish, ever since i remember i was playing with toy guns and we had wars with other streets, especialy in the winter we built snow bunkers and snowballed the hell out of each other yet no1 from my area ended up killing anyone

making parenting harder? Only for lazy parents. My parents every evening sat down with us and helped with homeworks or if by chance i wasnt given homework @ school then they made sure i had something to do and till i done it i wasnt allowed to play or go out

 

[Amnesia]

wait I'm sorry since when could you buy alcohol at 16/17???

doesnt say that in his post.

 

[Tefal]

doesnt say that in his post.

I've been legally allowed to buy & drink alcohol for 13 months but I can't relax and shoot a few people in GTA ?

err gta is an 18 if he can't play that then he is 17 max, yet has been able to drink for over a year?

Which means his age is a maximum of 16/17, yet he is somehow able to drink

And his profile says he's 17.

 

[Slogan]

snowdog, your defence is solely about your own age and situation.

Unfortunately you may be mature enough to play the game but a lot of people your age are not. When you hit 18 not a lot changes bar the fact you can be rightfully charged for the consequence of your actions. You're also expected to have matured to a decent level then to know right and wrong.

 

[Lyon85]

Except that the advertising for GTA4 is unquestionably safe. The most suggestive it gets was the woman with the lollipop for San Andreas, and even then it was mostly a head shot. The adverts I've seen for GTA4 have just been the main character posing. GTA games have never tried to advertise their gore or violence or whatever, so what's the problem with those exactly?

I would like to state I'm not necessarily for the ban, but I am not so naive to think that everything is fine as long as you are a good parent.

I know people are going to get heated with me, but can I point out my objective here is to illustrate to people that advertising is not as harmless as they think. I don't have much of a problem with the GTA4 advertising, if I was going to analyse it in depth (which I'll admit I can't help but do ), I would say that it furthers the ideals of the already well known franchise, that does only include those that have already been subjected to this debate before though. The girl with the lollipop and the lineup of characters in front of the measuring board (I don't know what you would call it) are a matter of taste. Personally I don't have a huge problem with it but it's out there affecting kids without your permission. Where we draw the line is the difficult debate, which is why this is such a big deal.

My main issue in this thread is hearing the "this is pathetic, I haven't killed anyone" debate for the 1000th time. How is it so difficult to understand that the things you see and absorb do affect you and our young?

 

[manoz]

its graffiti fullstop...look by now you will have caused 3263428764789534 buildings to have been wrote on...pls your wasting precious time.
do it for the kids!

Now you're just lying, companies shouldn't advertise a product which is not made for everybody in a place where everybody can blatantly see it(no matter what imagery is used). Leave it to maturer magazines, late night TV and comparatively certified movies

 

[Amnesia]

err gta is an 18 if he can't play that then he is 17 max, yet has been able to drink for over a year?

Which means his age is a maximum of 16/17, yet he is somehow able to drink

And his profile says he's 17.

yeah your right....i didnt check his profile to find his age....just looked at his comment of legally allowed for 13 months and assumed he was 19 years and 1 month.
*edit* btw i also didnt look at what country he lives in before i made the post lol

 

[snowdog]

The effects are studied, I can't give you proof, just as you cannot give me proof that video games and violent movies have no effect on children. I can point you to studies if you wish (this is the first result that I got on google, there are billions far more in depth articles). I keep using the size zero/fashion debate because I have studied it myself and therefor know more about it than I do video games, but the principle is the same. All advertising reflects an accepted way of life.

True, but fasion aint video gaming.
I've read about it that too, but gaming isn't fashion.

I can't give you an english link but this article ( perhaps use babelfish ?)
:
http://www.rtl.nl/(/actueel/rtlnieu.../15/opmerkelijk/0215_0600_Sexy_videoclips.xml
says sexy clips etcetc have made girls think differently about themselves and all that stuff. But it aslo says boys don't.

I can use this example in the same way as you did, relate it to vid games : Perhaps it's the same for video games: boys are not affected by video games ?

Offcouse this is a stupid conclusion and I'm just trying to say, adverts for video games and media adverts for fashion etcetc have nothing in common.

I would just like to ask everyone who has said "I played violent games, I don't murder" to please stop being so narrow minded. Of course you don't murder, but whether you like it video games and movie have molded you on some level. I am not here to say it has made you a lesser person, but if you're not willing to see the debate from any other point of view then you don't deserve to voice your opinion.

Molded me on some level ? Perhaps the first games when I was 3-10, yes.
But later: No. I hardly even thought about GTAIII. Or any of the games after. Why should somone all the sudden think a vid game is like reality ?

wait I'm sorry since when could you buy alcohol at 16/17???

I live in a different country where this is considered legal and normal.

Legal buying age:
16 (under 15% ABV),
18 (15% ABV and over)
Drinking age :
None: If a shop fails to ask for an ID-card and they are identified having sold alcohol to an underage, they are fined. No minimum age to drink in private with a parent/guardian.

snowdog, your defence is solely about your own age and situation.

Unfortunately you may be mature enough to play the game but a lot of people your age are not. When you hit 18 not a lot changes bar the fact you can be rightfully charged for the consequence of your actions. You're also expected to have matured to a decent level then to know right and wrong.

So can you when you're 16. If I pee in public it's me who gets the ticket and has to pay it, not my parents. Or if I ride the subway without a ticket and get caught, I have to pay 35€, not my mum and dad.
I can't see what will change in the next 11 months for me ( or any 17 year old) except that I'll be able to dump my parents and live on my own, my minimumwage will go up and I'll be able to buy drugs when I want to.

 

[Amnesia]

Now you're just lying, companies shouldn't advertise a product which is not made for everybody in a place where everybody can blatantly see it. Leave it to maturer magazines, late night TV and comparatively certified movies

you want to remove all alcolhol/tampon/gillette mens razor/gillette womens razor/womens eye make up/lipstick/babies nappies/condoms/womens underwear/mens underwear/mattresses for people with backpains advertisments too because they are not for everyone.....yes the list does go on but i cut it short just for you.

 

[Tefal]

yeah your right....i didnt check his profile to find his age....just looked at his comment of legally allowed for 13 months and assumed he was 19 years and 1 month.

So why if he was 19 couldn't he play GTA?

 

[taz488]

Yes but this one markets to children, didn't you listen to what the man in the video said? Children are playing this and thinking it's ok to steal cars and beat people up.

totally disagree with you on this, to be honest they can advertise to whoever they want as long as it aint violent or offensive, its up to the game retailers and parents to stop the game being played by kids as its an 18 rating.

they rate it 18, take two cant stop kids getting their hands on it, after sticking an 18 on it, its not their responsibility.

 

[manoz]

you want to remove all alcolhol/tampon/gillette mens razor/gillette womens razor/womens eye make up/lipstick/babies nappies/condoms/womens underwear/mens underwear/mattresses for people with backpains advertisments too because they are not for everyone.....yes the list does go on but i cut it short just for you.

You're comparing everyday useful items to a game in which you murder people. Right okay

 

[Amnesia]

So why if he was 19 couldn't he play GTA?

i didnt say he couldnt....his comment just looked like part of a conversation about right and wrong.....anything else sherlock ?

 

[snowdog]

You're comparing everyday useful items to a game in which you murder people. Right okay

What people? You mean lifeless objects created in 3dmax and photoshop. Lifeless zero's n ones.


The everyday items he mentioned are more dangerous than a videogame.
How often are razor blades used as a weapon, especially for example in prisons, the real world?

People take fictional stuff too seriously and forget about far mroe dangerous stuff in reality.

 

[Tefal]

You're comparing everyday useful items to a game in which you murder people. Right okay

what about the latest movies then?

Or halo2/3 they where plastered up all over buses here and America...

 

[Lyon85]

True, but fasion aint video gaming.
I've read about it that too, but gaming isn't fashion.

I can't give you an english link but this article ( perhaps use babelfish ?)
:
http://www.rtl.nl/(/actueel/rtlnieuws/opmerkelijk/articleview/)/components/actueel/rtlnieuws/2008/02_februari/15/opmerkelijk/0215_0600_Sexy_videoclips.xml
says sexy clips etcetc have made girls think differently about themselves and all that stuff. But it aslo says boys don't.

I can use this example in the same way as you did, relate it to vid games : Perhaps it's the same for video games: boys are not affected by video games ?

Offcouse this is a stupid conclusion and I'm just trying to say, adverts for video games and media adverts for fashion etcetc have nothing in common.




Molded me on some level ? Perhaps the first games when I was 3-10, yes.
But later: No. I hardly even thought about GTAIII. Or any of the games after. Why should somone all the sudden think a vid game is like reality ?




I live in a different country where this is considered legal and normal.

More like it, thank you for respecting where I am coming from. I mean that, I always tend to get ignored in these situations. That or people just fire back the same old argument without having actually thought about it.

The example I gave, and the studies I have personally taken have targetted girls/women. The idea that Bratz doesn't affect boys is because it isn't targeted at them. If a Levis advert from men used violence as a vehicle to sell their product we would see the exact same principle applied in these studies for men. We have to think less about what the product is, but more what the vehicle is. I have never seen an overweight lass in a perfume advert, have you? If you simply adapt these studies to work with video game adverts, they would still work.

Nobody confuses video games with reality (with the mentally ill as an exception). Not one person in the world. If they affected you when you were 3-10, then that is an issue, is it not?

EDIT: There are countries where this is illegal. Before anyone shrugs this information off, consider why they did it. Consider that they have very intellectual and articulate people working on it.
Try and understand they have extremely compelling arguments as to why these laws exists. You don't even have to research them, just try to understand they may very well know more than you.