It's a boyhood fantasy,
for sure: You dribble down court, soar high through the air, and
-- here's the best part -- with an awesome flourish, complete
a perfect tomahawk dunk while an arena-packed crowd cheers wildly.
That kid fantasy is, in reality, one of more than 60 free computer
games, ranging from road races and shooting galleries to backgammon
and "arithmetiles," at Nabiscoworld.com, the website of the giant
snack food company. And there's lots more like it these days at
similar company websites.
Nabisco and other
corporations aren't offering free games for the fun of it, of
course. They know that American children spend a staggering $24
billion for goods and services each year and influence an additional
$500 billion in family purchases. They also know that 64 percent
of kids ages 5 to 14 who have Internet access play games online.
So it's no surprise that many advertisers have begun using computer
games as a sales tool to reach this enormous market. It's also
no surprise that some people are nervous about that.
Much of the unease
revolves around the fact that most children don't understand until
age 8 that ads are attempts to sell them something, and even older
children between ages 8 and 12 don't use that understanding unless
explicitly reminded to do so, explains Notre Dame Associate Professor
of Marketing Elizabeth Moore. The recent emergence of "advergames"
has heightened these concerns because they blur the boundary between
entertainment and advertising and engage children for long periods
of time.
"Games are a marketer's
dream," says Moore, who is conducting a study for the Kaiser Foundation
on the relation of advergames to food marketing and childhood
obesity. "A commercial may run 30 seconds, but studies have found
that kids spend an average of 26 minutes at an online game site.
That's a long time to reinforce your brand message."
Most advergames,
in fact, are used primarily to reinforce brand identity rather
than overtly sell a product. In the "Dunk 'n Slam" game, for instance,
a brief printed nutritional information message on "sensible snacking"
linked to a Nabisco product appears before the game starts and
the Oreo cookie logo is woven into the game graphics. There are
no overt messages to buy the cookies.
Moore says thus far in her survey she has found that most corporations
appear to be acting responsibly and with restraint in their advergame
efforts. However more study of the technique and its impact is
needed, she adds.
(October 2005)
