Back in 2008, Obama became the first presidential candidate to run ads in a video game. The ads were simple, consisting of one line of text and a picture of Obama. The revolutionary part of the ads was how targeted they actually were. Wondering why you didn’t notice any? Let’s talk about it.

Ads In Video Games

I want to first explain a little bit about how ads in video games work. As you may know, consoles connect to the internet, just like a computer. This allows the consoles to download games, movies, or even browse the internet. In the 90’s, you’d have to bring your game cartridge to a stand in a game store to update or rewrite any content in the game. The internet made this practice obsolete. This fact opened the floodgates for changes in video games. If there is a major bug, the developers can fix it and everyone can download the patch (update) easily from their own home. Developers were able to create Obama’s ad and place it into games via an update. 

Obama’s Strategy

Obama purchased ads in 18 different video games, mostly consisting of games like the NBA, NFL, and Burnout Paradise series. He also ran ads in mobile games like Tetris. Choosing games that have a predominantly male fan-base also helps to target the demographic he wants. This strategy was revolutionary at the time. Video game ads had been mostly brand placements, like we see on TV and in movies. This wasn’t an ad asking you to buy something, rather an ad trying to push you to vote. 

Games also ask for your age, gender, and location. With all of this information, it’s easy to pick and choose exactly which people you want to target. We already have extremely detailed information on presidential elections and which states are likely to flip red or blue. Obama decided to target his ads to demographics he didn’t think he would get through conventional methods. His ads targeted 20-40 year old men in swing states. With this strategy, he hoped to reach voters that may not have decided who they’re voting for. 

Thanks to that, Obama’s ads were able to target more effectively than any other methods at the time. To put this into perspective, Facebook began to allow targeted ads by language and geography in 2009. 

The Takeaway

Although we can’t definitively say that Obama’s video game ads were the deciding factor of the 2008 election, we can say that his combined media presence was suffocating for the other candidates. His buying power allowed him to run multiple ads in different mediums to avoid major oversaturation in his target market. 

The takeaway here is that it’s important to be innovative when advertising, and we can see that the early bird gets the worm in this situation.