Obama's Virtual Billboards

Next time you're driving through a video game-based world, look up at the ads:

Last week we noted unconfirmed sightings of an “Obama for President” billboard in the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise. Today we’re able to report that it is, in fact, an official advertisement placed by the senator’s campaign team.

“I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout,” Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher, told me via email, noting that EA regularly allows ad placements in their online games. “Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates,” she continued. “Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.”

Just like his notifying his supporters of his vice-presidential pick by text message, Barack Obama has been using technology in unique and creative ways to reach the ever-increasing youth vote in this country; these innovative tactics may just be what puts him over the top in November.