Ads to kids in VWs
Virtual Worlds News has an article about ads to kids in VWs, stating that the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has decided that it is OK to market to kids within VWs as long as the ads are happening on “sponsored land or sponsored activities.” Basically, stuff in the “public realm” such as lobbies is restricted.
Given that most of the kids’ worlds are entirely sponsored at this point, this is a dubious distinction. What exactly constitutes a public lobby in a branded world where every bit of art is branded, and you can log in and play for free? What about sponsored land that is right over there and that you can see from where you’re standing?
We as a culture and industry need to think hard about this sort of issue, because it’s basically a trap laid for us by circumstance, just waiting to blow back and cause bad press and ill feelings from parents.
I hate advertising, especially advertising targeted at children. I think it’s obscene and disgusting that we as a society allow advertisers to do their brainwashing on prepubescents whose brains are still developing. Little kids have no defenses against the media images that psychologists craft for advertisers. I think “brain damage” is not too strong a phrase. In my ideal world, all media advertising would be heavily regulated, and advertising directly to children would be illegal.