UPDATE: Victory for industry as new ad encourages kids to ‘get up and about by playing active video games’
UPDATE: The following story has already drawn national attention in The Guardian and other media.
The Government’s Change4Life campaign will today begin explicitly promoting the benefits of video games – after becoming the pariah of the industry last month.
MCV can reveal that new Change4Life TV ads which air tonight will urge families to make sure their kids have 60 ‘active’ minutes each day. The Department of Health told MCV that they will focus on ‘playing video games in which kids need to move about’.
The news will be seen as a victory for the video games industry, after Change4Life drew mass criticism from the trade for its previous print ad last month.
The commercial depicted a boy playing a console under the tagline: ‘Risk an Early Death. Just Do Nothing.’
Sega, Codemasters, Atari and EA all denounced the ad, while MCV submitted an official complaint to the ASA requesting the ad be pulled. Sony even considered legal action over the use of a PlayStation-like pad in the commercial.
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Dawn Primarolo, Minister for Public Health said:
“Active video games, where kids need to jump up and down or dance about as part of the game, are a great way to get kids moving more.
“Little bits of activity like this, throughout the day can easily add up to the 60 active minutes kids need. But our survey shows that at the moment our kids just aren’t getting up and about enough.”
The new TV ad was created by Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace And Gromit.
Comments
They listened!
This is a direct reaction to the industry's uproar last month, and quite rightly so. This can only lead to stronger links with the Government and Department of Health. A good news day.
Congratulations to MCV
Well done guys, for making a stand and helping the government see both sides of the debate.
I realise that the last ad was not funded by Change4Life (it was 3 independent charities) but it's still great to see the Department for Health responding to the industry, and seeing that we can make a positive difference to helping families keep fit.
Really well done.
Open Mindedness
A huge thank you is in order to Mike Rawlinson and Phil Snape at Elspa who made the right moves when the balloon went up and used the power of debate and diplomacy with the Department of Health. Without their direct action, UKGov may not have listened. It proves that talking can work, provided people are prepared to listen to reason. Well played.
Stinks of Corruption?
This smells of corruption. Wasn't it just over a month ago that it was reported that the first videogame company (Nintendo) was coming to the party as far as sponsoring the Change4Life campaign? The next thing you know there's a huge change of direction and consoles like the Wii (surprise, surprise) get a big stamp of approval. Any credibility this campaign had (and it's been a huge stretch since square one) has just gone out the window. It's a victory for the gaming industry, however at what cost? Is the moral of the story that you have to pay up, to be treated the same as the other entertainment sectors and junk food companies? If so, it's a sorry state of affairs.
Some people....
A positive turn around for th games industry and what does anthonyh do? Complain about it.
Belt up anthonyh, take your negativity else where.
DoH changed before Nintendo stepped in
You should know that the Department of Health listened to the arguments in favour of active gaming and changed their position BEFORE Nintendo got involved in supporting the campaign. You only have to walk down the street to know that some people have a problem with their weight, and we as an industry should use what we have, active games, to play our part in a healthy and active lifestyle
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