Ads for Spys

The effectiveness of ads in games for brand awareness has yet to be seen, yet that hasnt stopped many big brands from investing in this young new media outlet. More interestingly it turns out that other organizations have also been experimenting with virtual advertising, including the British government. GCHQ, a branch of british intelligence, is looking to attract tech saavy recruits by placing ads in games such as Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

GCHQ, which stands for the Government Communication Headquarters, believed the ads would reach an "Internet-savvy generation of graduate groups." The campaign was handled by Massive Inc., the in game ad company controlled by Microsoft. Ads appeared in different games as well including Need for Speed Carbon and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

It is no suprise that a government agency is willing to invest advertising money into videogames. After all, government PSAs can currently be seen on TV and heard on the radio, so why not turn to videogames as a way to send out a message. The medium also provides the GCHQ with a unique, select target audience which they wish to reach. They are interested in individuals who are tech saavy, so why not target gamers who spend their time playing console and computer games. It would be interesting to see how effective these wanted ads actually were, but i would be willing to bet they were more effective than we would think.