The offending advertisement

Games industry organisations and companies are outraged over a magazine spread from the UK government-funded Campaign4Life advertising campaign. Following on from a previous instalment that linked gaming with obesity and associated health issues, the offending advertisement, depicts a young boy holding what is almost certainly a PlayStation 3 controller, along with the text: Risk an early death, just do nothing. The advertisement was a joint effort produced by prominent British health organisations including the Department of Health in association with Cancer Research, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK.

What has their hackles up is that without further context or knowledge of the issues surrounding the video games and health debates, the viewer can come away with the simple and highly controversial conclusion that games will kill you. Leading the pack are MCV, a British weekly trade magazine that was one of the first to take action against the offending advertisement, filing a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority on the following grounds:

"(The Campaign4Life advertisement is) unrepresentative of the positive effect video games have on the UK’s youth ... The advert implies to its audience (parents) that, by preventing their child from playing games, they will help ensure their future health. Not only is this strictly not true, but runs the genuine risk of hurting small businesses."

Also amongst those whose response to the advertisement was swift and damning was the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), an organisation that purports to represent the interest of the British games industry as whole. ELSPA are supposed to have an open and friendly relationship with the Department of Health resulting in responsible industry portrayal of the health concerns associated with gaming, as seen in ELSPA's own “Ask About Games” campaign. They requested a meeting with Government officials with whom they had previously worked hand-in-glove to discuss the abrupt shift of attitude displayed in the Campaign4Life advertisement. The Department of Health originally declaimed responsibility, informing ELSPA that the advertisement originated solely with non-government organisations.

With two heavyweight industry bodies leading the charge, other companies soon added their complaints, with publishers and developers like Atari, Konami and Sega taking a stand alongside ELSPA’s European counterpart The Independent Games Developers Association (TIGA), whose CEO Richard Wilson neatly summed up the outrage felt by many. "Game developers ... are not in the business of driving people to an early grave ... we (society) clearly need to encourage a more active lifestyle and healthy diet. It should be possible to achieve this objective without misrepresenting a creative industry of 30,000 people." Quite right, and the discontent amongst those who have been given the Mark of Cain by the advertisement continues to seethe. There's even a yet-unconfirmed rumour that Sony may take legal action against the advertisement's producers, who may not have obtained Sony's permission to depict Playstation hardware. The rumblings of discontent obviously had some effect, as the UK Department of Health eventually made a statement responding to the industry's concerns.

"The campaign takes a direct approach, setting out the issue in succinctly (SIC) and in straightforward language. An unhealthy lifestyle, including poor diet or being inactive, can lead to health problems in later life ... We are not saying that children shouldn't play computer games or eat treats, but parents and children need to be aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle. The activities portrayed are examples of poor diet and lack of physical activity."

It seems to me that that statement defends the message that should have been sent by the advertisement - but wasn’t. The advertisement offers little in the way of context or explanation for its claims, not even going as far as the "as part of a balanced lifestyle" disclaimers found on sugary breakfast cereals. There is no discussion of what an unreasonable amount of time spent playing video games might be, or what other activities a child might include in their day along with sedentary pastimes. There is no suggestion of what steps a concerned parent might take to improve their child's health while still allowing them play time, as seen in campaigns originating with the industry itself.

Must... not... fall... down...

The campaign focuses on games as the tool of young people's destruction, rather than drawing attention to the negative behaviours - not balancing gaming with other activities, following an unhealthy diet - that are the root of the problem. This shifts responsibility onto the industry from the society that ought to be educating and caring for individuals rather than allowing them to grow neglected into habits that ultimately affect their entire lives. In situations like that of the tobacco industry, where the overwhelming scientific evidence points to purely negative repercussions with use of their product, there's little argumentative space in which to formulate a response to such a poorly targeted campaign. The games industry is more fortunate, however, with a large body of evidence indicating many psychological, social and developmental benefits to a sensible amount of gaming as part of a balanced lifestyle, and even better, a range of health-promoting products that indicate the gaming consumer's commitment to health!

She's so demanding!

A glance over the Australian Weekly Video Games Charts for any week since shortly after its release in May last year reveals Wii Fit in what seems an almost permanent position in the top ten. The third best selling Wii "game" worldwide, the Wii Fit's Balance Board peripheral is becoming a common sight in living rooms around the country, and the globe, and caused major problems for harassed distributors at Christmas time when it became near impossible for the legions of shoppers to find the increasingly sold-out stocking-filler. Few critics could claim that Wii Fit does anything but promote health and activity, and as one of the console's - and in fact, the industry's - stellar performers, it cannot be dismissed. Not even the first of its kind, Wii Fit followed in the footsteps of titles like My Fitness Coach and Eyetoy: Kinetic on PS2, and upcoming titles like NewU: Inside Out not only demand you incorporate exercise into your day but also provide nutritional guidance. The continuing popularity of games that get the player off the couch and wildly flailing their limbs such as Wii Sports, Dance Dance Revolution and various Eyetoy titles demonstrate that the tarring of the entire industry as promoters of negative exercise habits is as ill-informed as it is offensive.

Gamercize: Look at their happy faces!

While criticism of video games as distractions from scholarly, socially and physically active pursuits are running rampant in the press, some organisations are putting the attraction video games have for many young people to positive effect by using games as an incentive to participate in social and physically active pastimes. While a system of incentives can be put into place in your own home, limiting gaming time based on other daily behaviours, some UK schools and gyms are taking the idea and applying it on a much larger scale. Using equipment from Gamercize, a company that manufactures exercise equipment peripherals, would-be gamers are encouraged to complete aerobic exercise sets. The various peripherals - including small step units you can keep under your desk all the way up to exercise bikes - work by interrupting your gaming controls if you cease your activity, and can be implemented for multiplayer games, encouraging social interaction in public settings.

Not only do specific games actively encourage healthy behaviour, with a positive implementation gaming can be a useful tool in encouraging a balanced lifestyle, so why does the stereotype of gamers as overweight, lazy and rapidly declining into premature death exist, let alone persist? The controversy surrounding this new advertising campaign only highlights an issue that the games industry needs to address. The negative associations that games have unfairly collected need to be redirected on to the social pressures - or lack of them - that make an unhealthy existence an attractive option. Unfortunately for everyone involved in games, a vocal minority often find it easier to demonise and scapegoat rather than examine their own complicity in existing problems or consider active social change.