Creative Advertising 101

It's a brave new world for advertisers. As movies and games and in the future all sorts of products start to rethink how they generate press, and create exciting new ways of getting their name out, I can see that we're all in for a treat. Why pay for crappy TV spots with weak jingles, when you can create entire on-line games, or spoof sites, or both?

Most in the gaming community are quite familiar with Halo2's I Love Bees website. An interactive fiction/game based on the Halo/Halo2 story that helps to link the two. It unfolded over the summer of 2004 up until the launch date. Pretty cool I think, though I didn't have the time to get into it fully, especially since I haven't played Halo and wouldn't catch most of the references.

Here's my issue. What's the point of making this sort of experience and then not getting the word out to those who might enjoy it? Nintendo (apparently) tried the same thing with Metroid Prime 2: Echos, but I didn't hear about it until the entire thing was completed. Apparently something's going on at Channel 51 (with follow up changes to site), even channel 51's sponsors Orbis Labs and Athena Astronautics seem to be in on the joke. Though I think AA is up to something as detailed on the Blogger journal “Athena Astronautics Journal”. Since I've only discovered it now, it loses a bit of it's play-acting finesse, but it still seems to be quality. Next time Nintendo, be sneakier, OK?

And the quick-and-dirty I Love Knees website is quite funny too.