[don't know if this belongs here or in misc, so feel free to move and I apologise if I'm wrong.]
For all those who don't know, ie non-Britains, The Times is in my opinion a high brow newspaper. Just reading through it like a good little student I find a little article on Neopets which I thought I might share with you all:
Quote: Mind Games
A popular fantasy site marketed at children has been fiercly criticised for immersing youngsters into an "insidious" web of advertising.
The Neopets site, which was started by British students Adam Powell and Donna Williams in 1999, lets children adopt virtual pets online and play branded games such as "Nestle Ice Cream Frozen Flights" to win "neopoints".
The formula has proved hugely popular. The site has 25 million members worldwide and reports more than 2.2 billion page views a month. It was bought by Viacom, the media giant, this year.
Campaigners say that Neopets' "immersive advertising" model is unhealthy. Kalie Lasn of adbusters.org, an anti-consumerism site, said "It's the most insiduous mind-f*** ever."
this is suprising a little
Please make sure your posts contain actual content, kthx - Notinuse
Hmmm...well, a bit interesting, I suppose. But I actually must disagree with the assertion that the sponsor games are the "most insidious...ever." Or all that insidious at all, really, considering the games are specifically marked as paid advertisements. Compare this to children's programming with subtle product placement.
The article, or at least the portion here quoted, also neglects to mention that the sponsor games aren't really all that prominent. What with the sub-par NP payout for most of them, they're most useful as padding for those trying to get the Top Gamer avatar.
It seems rather like that uproar they had a while back, about how TNT was encouraging gambling, and forcing kids who couldn't gamble to send their pets to the soup kitchen. Not necessarily outright lies, but still distortions of the truth.
i wouldnt call their advertising "immersive" either...who in hell would want to buy the latest Lizzy McGuire crap or the neopets ps2 game even after being "subjected" to neopets mind controlling advertising...>_> i hate people with opinions based on nothing
Desmos Wrote:Hmmm...well, a bit interesting, I suppose. But I actually must disagree with the assertion that the sponsor games are the "most insidious...ever." Or all that insidious at all, really, considering the games are specifically marked as paid advertisements. Compare this to children's programming with subtle product placement.
The article, or at least the portion here quoted, also neglects to mention that the sponsor games aren't really all that prominent. What with the sub-par NP payout for most of them, they're most useful as padding for those trying to get the Top Gamer avatar.
It seems rather like that uproar they had a while back, about how TNT was encouraging gambling, and forcing kids who couldn't gamble to send their pets to the soup kitchen. Not necessarily outright lies, but still distortions of the truth.
I was hurt by that ban on gambling games, still got 3 months till I'm 13 and could play those games. I read the articles about mommies and their little children acting like it taught their kids to do nothing but gamble. Not true at all, gambling only makes up a small amount of ways to make np. Also they complained about the soup kitchen, and that their children don't even know what a soup kitchen is.
Anyway though, people who don't like neo and things it does, shut your mouth and quit complaining, just stay away and don't ruin it for us by complaining.
Quote:Campaigners say that Neopets' "immersive advertising" model is unhealthy. Kalie Lasn of adbusters.org, an anti-consumerism site, said "It's the most insiduous mind-f*** ever."
What? Neopets' advertising hasn't been that "immersive" since the new banners. now everything is flagrent. there are sponsor games still, but what the crap is the difference between those and a giant banner? just about every popular site has advertisements, look at myspace or any other popular web site. some people need to chill out and realize the internet is another opportunity for people to make money. there's no difference between seeing a giant banner advertising hillary duff, or a game where you answer questions about her newest movie.
Has kalie lasn never watched tv where her kids are bombarded with advertisements after every 5 minutes of programming?
honestly.
You know, I did some internet research, and it appears Neopets actually tried to trademark "immersive advertising" at one point.
EDIT: I found this on Google (on Wizards of the Coast site):
"NeoPets, Neopia, Immersive Advertising, Krawk, Quiggle, and Shoyru and their
distinctive likenesses are property of NeoPets, Inc. © 2003 NeoPets, Inc."
I know Neopets was featured in Time Magazine a while back and had something else mentioning advertising. Personally I think theres too much advertising on the site compared to how it used to.
1) Theres the Top Banner, Bottom Banner, and the place in the sidebar that all have advertising space
2) A good amount of games are paid for by advertisers (Don't really have a problem with this)
3) Theres items such as: Juicy Fruit, Baby Bottle Pops, Mcdonalds Food, Etc.
4) In the shops theres areas such as: Mcdonalds Shop, Back to School, Zazzle Tshirts, Disney Shop, Shop of offers, etc.
5) Under Earn Neopoints which I did as a noob thinking it was good theres links to 10+ things you have to do for np
6) Theres free places to feed your pets stuff such as Pepsi and other things
7) They constantly put Neopets Merchanadise in the news and linksall over the site.
Yeah I left off some stuff but you just simply start ignoring some of the advertising once you start playing but theres still lots more than neo needs to support the site even without selling stuff
Yep, there is a lot of ads, but when people starts saying bad stff, they ruin us the fun of this page
senor_skunk Wrote:4) In the shops theres areas such as: Mcdonalds Shop, Back to School, Zazzle Tshirts, Disney Shop, Shop of offers, etc.
Just one little thing...isn't Back to School just a normal shop that restocks the school supply class items?
Personally I'm happy with the advertising, it makes the site free for us! Just imagine how much they can sell 2.2billion page view for? Even if your ad only appears on 1 in 10 pages that's 220 million views *big whistle*. I think that it's not immersive, just blatant. But what doesn't have advertising? Let's ban google next!