Advergames from Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: 

The expressive power of video games

Reading Responses

1. What advergames have you played? Did they influence a purchase outside of the game?
   • I have played Chex Quest, Chipotle’s The Scarecrow, and Chick-fil-A and their app game. The Chick-fil-A game definitely influenced my purchases outside of the game because I was using the game to earn points, and I would even say the Starbucks holiday Scavenger Hunt game, which I would use to collect more points towards my purchases, so it felt like free money. 
2. Why do the advergames ”tooth protector” and “escape” work? What makes ” Chase the Chuckwagon” and “Shark Bait” fail?
   • These advergames work because they prioritize procedural rhetoric where the Brand’s message is conveyed and seen throughout the rules and mechanics, whether that be visual or verbally advertised to interact with the product or products, behavior which in turn builds brand awareness. “Tooth Protector” is a good example of the demonstrative mechanics with direct metaphors and active engagements for the user, while “Escape” uses performance features within a car for an optimal outcome for winning the game. Opposing those two games, Shark Bait and Chase the ChuckWagon, fail because of very surface-level branding instead of using mechanics to make an argument. These games rely on logos with no clear consumer understanding, which is why these games are a flop.
3. What does Volvo’s “drive for life” accomplish?
   • Volvo’s advergame Drive for Life is a great example of a game that achieves brand exposure but fails to create a persuasive argument for the product’s core value: safety. Their incentives are misaligned because Volvo is built on safety and caution, while the game is overall a racing simulator, which poses a huge risk of crashing and negative consequences in the game which is overall.
4. What company used in-advergame advertising?
   • Toyota used IGA to create its standalone “advergame.” Toyota’s primary example of this because they place branding inside their vehicles, such as popular titles like Super Monkey Ball.
5. What was one of the first home console advergames, and what beverage was it for?
   • One of the first Home console advergames was seen through the Kool-Aid Man game released in the Atari 2600, which was made to promote the powdered drink, and another prominent example was in 1938 of the Pepsi Invaders for the Atari 2600, but was also reused and designed for Coca-Cola sales. 
6. What makes “the toilet training” game sophisticated, and do you agree?
   • According to Bogost’s analysis and description of procedural rhetoric, it is considered a sophisticated game because it was beyond the demonstration to simulate a complex social process. The psychological and methodological aspects of parenting are what bring this game to life while also addressing parental anxiety.
7. What do advergames and anti-advergames have in common, and what principles do they share?
   • Advergames and anti-advergames have procedural rhetoric in common. Their goals are very much opposites, but they both use the rules and mechanics of a game to make a persuasive argument. The principles they share involve behavioral arguments, whether that be Systemic Simulation or Active Persuasion. Both types of games require the player to “do” the logic of the brand. They also share the same structural principles of Procedurality, Interactivity, Validation, and Metaphorical Representation, which both systems use to get their message across.