What Do You Think of the 'Hitman' Ad? 152
GamePolitics brings up a topic well worth discussion, the ad for Hitman currently making the rounds in gaming magazines. Their question is: Sexy or Sexist? From the article: "Her well-kept body lies on a bed of gold satin sheets; her pose is deliberately enticing -- until you realize there is a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. Then you notice the pool of blood spreading around her pillow. At at first glance, however, the blood seems to be just more accessorizing; it matches her lingerie and high heels. Regardless of your reaction to the photo, one thing is abundantly clear. The ad itself has nothing to do with the game its pimping. Nada. Zippo. Just visit the site for Hitman: Blood Money, and you'll see what I mean." What do you think?
Hmmm (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hmmm (Score:1)
Tell that to Rockstar, after GTA: San Andreas.
It is not good news when your product is pulled from the shelves at Walmart.
Re:Hmmm (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm (Score:2)
Big box retail is important to Roakstar and there is no one bigger in that market than Walmart.
Next up: Sensational stories = banner impressions (Score:2)
Does this ad speak to you? Does it make you want to buy the game? Is it too edgy? Does it appear to be, in the words of one Joystiq reader, an ad selling a "rape/murder fantasy" type of game? Let's see how well we can deconstruct this ad.
In other words: can we drum up some controversy and direct other sites to link to Joystiq? Is there some evil angle we can work here to drive up ad revenue? Let's see how well we can sensationalize w
Re:Hmmm (Score:2)
Re:Hmmm (Score:1)
Sexy or Sexist? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's neither.
Re:Sexy or Sexist? (Score:1)
I second that. (Score:2)
It's an appropriate ad, not sexist at all. Sexy? I like my women live.
Re:I second that. (Score:2)
Re:Sexy or Sexist? (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing sexy in the picture for anyone but necrophiliacs.
On top of this, if you disregard the hole in the forehead, it is also quite tame from the ad/sex/sells/violence perspective. Just compare it to Dress To Kill [yttermera.se] ads from the Wallis campaign of the mid-90es. That is before even thinking of the Kronenburg advert that got banned by the ASA. That is also before even looking at the kind of ads perfumes are putting for EU market only (Opium with the Naked Sophie Dahl ad being just one example)). They selfcensor themselves and do not print them in American magazines so that they do not have to deal with the Bible Belt dwellers and other Evangelical Talebans.
Nothing to see here, move along...
Re:Sexy or Sexist? (Score:2)
so what?
Re:Sexy or Sexist? (Score:2)
I don't see what they mean (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:2)
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:1)
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:2)
I was under the impression that calling them "not related" was a subtle way of saying that the Hitman game was not "beautifully executed".
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, you can have all the violence you want, if it's directed towards men. It's actually seen as 'better' if a woman is attacking men. Remember that Madonna music video where she and an old woman drove around and ran over men? It was three minutes of Y-chromosome roadkill. No one said shit about it. But if it had been a man running down a woman (even just once) it would've made the news.
I'm all for equal rights - and if you too think woman should be treated the same as men, do what I do: treat them the same as men.
Violence against woman is as violence against men - there is no difference. And if you think there is you're sexist.
Mod parent up (Score:2)
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:2)
Re:I don't see what they mean (Score:2)
hrm... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:hrm... (Score:1)
Re:hrm... (Score:5, Insightful)
Who gives a fuck?
In a world with famine, disease, tyranny, rape, murder, etcetera, we have people concerned more with TV, Video games and their own righteousness, than with the actual suffering of others. If the Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, or whatever the fuck god[s] one believes in takes more comfort in his/her/it/their followers indignation at make believe situations than real ones, I would be quite shocked.
Focus on reality and there is no need for the acrimony toward fantasy land.
[/end rant]
Re:hrm... (Score:1, Troll)
Re:hrm... (Score:1)
But who pulls the trigger? Are people such zombies so when they see murder on television they all take guns and start a Batlle Royale FFA elimination game.
Counterstrike would make teenagers bloodthirsty becuase it inhibits moral values?
Why don't you talk about stopping wars?
(Which are murder of enemy soldiers/combatants/civilians)
Don't the Idea of War
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Re:hrm... (Score:3, Insightful)
The interviewer asked him "how could you kill all those people?"
He replied, "Well, there's a trick to it. You have to hold your elbow like this otherwise it gets sore."
Most of your neighbors have the potential to be concentration camp guards under the right circumstances. There is tremendous pleasure
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Re:hrm... (Score:1)
Bart Simpson, South Park, this ad- they're all just little bits of outrage that distract people from the real outrages, that keep people from focusing on the real problem
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Pop culture is one of the things at the leading edge of the cultural shift. Its defenders always concentrate on the "just a little bit more won't hurt" aspect. But
Re:hrm... (Score:1)
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
And the 1950s were a hell of a lot better in a hell of a lot of ways than today. But if I had my wish, it would probably be for the social structure of the 1890s.
Re:hrm... (Score:1)
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
And that differes from the post-christian world... how, again?
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Which part of the 1950's were a that much better better than today? The 50's saw an unprecedented rise in crime (until the 60's), and many Americans did not enjoy much in the way of civil rights. Americans were far less tolerant of other races and religions. This is nice if you're white and Christian, but the rest of America endured conditions which could be considered quite oppressive by today's standards. Over the past
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Could you be more specific...
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Re:hrm... (Score:4, Interesting)
Long term societies change though time and there's nothing that can be done about that. (Societies that do not change are stagnate, and tend to die out quickly.) None is any more justifiably worse than another, just different. Hell, I'm sure if I looked I'd find people in 1890 bemoaning the sad state of affairs as compared to their own childhood.
So, in closing, keep up the good work. It has a long, proud (myopic) tradition!
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
You came off as intelligent until that line.
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Anyway, assuming you're just rude and not a troll and in the interests of discussion, what's your justification? Why is your pet era of history the one to which we should all strive?
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
You need to study some history. Human behavior has not changed one iota in the "behavior and values" department for 10,000 years. Of course, that includes the fact that there is always some Chicken Little running around telling everyone that life is getting worse.
Living for 70+ years and having far more leisure time than our ancestors could dream a
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
How to make a proper reply:
Take my comments, refute them 1 by 1, reference your beliefs or ideals to support your disagreement, conclude with your own idea, vetted better than Ideas have consequences.
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
The three ideas called Religion, Rascism, and Nationalism have killed more people than any form of entertainment has ever done.
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Sure it does. An idea was widely communicated and each member following that social trend individually decided it was a good idea. Each individual is responsible for their own decisions and actions. It doesn't matter where or how they got the idea or the nature of it. The decision to follow it was theirs and theirs alone.
Re:hrm... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, I do not, in fact, agree that a complicated
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Simplifying the situation was not my intent. My belief is people feel helpless to cause change in their world so they attack things that make them feel like they have done something to improve society. For example, the moronic belief that "Fight the terrorists over there so they don't come over here
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
Solving famine, disease, tyranny, rape and murder are all impossible. However, bringing down a video game is within the realm of possibility. It makes people feel better.
Is it stupid? Yes. Does it make sense? No.
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
That's right
You "missed the boat" on this one. It says "beautifully executed" while showing a picture of a woman dressed in skimpy clothing with a bullet through her head. It's a pun, but also a bit sexist. I doubt you could put a man in the same clothes and position and have it mean the same thing.
Re:hrm... (Score:2)
You couldn't put a man in the _same_ clothes, but you could create an image with the same impact, in the same pun. The catch 22 to "sexist" ( which usually just means mysogynist ) is that men are constatly objectified, which is A-OK, apparently.
article? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:article? (Score:1)
Link to ad in question would be much better.
How are you going to get the server to reply with the ad without sending a cookie proving that you have registered? (Didn't you try BugMeNot?)
It's just more "Shock Advertising" (Score:4, Insightful)
The result is the individual game does OK, but the market as a whole stagnates because normal people don't want to be associated with such violent games.
It would catch my eyes (Score:2)
The pun is somewhat silly though.
The person who wrote the article must be sarcatsic, a picture of a hitman victim having nothing to de with a game about a hitman?
And I'm seriously worried about the guy who though "Sexy or Sexist" is a relevant question. The victim is not pushing any borders for ad standards in terms of being undressed, so the only "sexy" or "sexist" connotation would be for necrophilia.
Re:It would catch my eyes (Score:2)
An appropriate quote: (Score:4, Interesting)
And on the purpose of such art:
I'll finish with a definition of art according to the author:
Once you understand these things, seeing the purpose and the nature of the Hitman ad is trivial.
Doesn't Sell Me (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Doesn't Sell Me (Score:2)
But I agree
How long before the "rape" game? (Score:2)
There are also tons of movies that show what can happen when we have absolute freedom. Look at how much uncivilized crap gets posted on places like Slashdot and it just gets worse the more anonymous it becomes (eg. Freenet). Indulging in this type of play can't be good for the mind. I feel sick just watching that video for the game.
Re:How long before the "rape" game? (Score:1)
Watch any bad Kung-fu movie from the 70s. There's always some kind of gratuitous and explicit rape scene that has nothing to do with anything.
who cares (Score:2)
Re:who cares (Score:1)
The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:5, Insightful)
In the Hitman games, you play a stealthy killer. Now, so far, I've only played part two (it's the one that is out for Gamecube). The point of the game is that you have a target, you get to the target a sneakily as possible, kill him/her and then sneak out again as sneakily as possible. In part two, you even have the option of knocking people out with cloroform if you need them out of the way and they aren't your target. In other words, unlike a lot of action games, where your goal is to rack up kills, you purpose is just to take out one target without anyone knowing you did it. (I found the second level of part two to be very tough, any pointers?) You get scored on this, the more sneakily efficient you are, the better you do. (In other words, heading in with guns blazing is a way to get a bad score.)
Anyway, the AD isn't intended to be sexist, indeed I think the argument against the AD that I'm seeing is that it should have been sexist.
I.e. if it was a male character, dead in some museum in front of some spectacular work of art and they used "Beautifully Executed," there would have been no controversy for this effective AD campaign. So, the problem is, the AD campaign was insufficiently sexist, not that it was too sexist. Or do people think anyone would have raised such controversy about the other two ADs?
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
"Assassin?...That sounds so exotic... I was just a murderer."
--Richard Kulinksi, The Iceman
If you've ever watched "The Iceman and the Psychiatrist" on HBO, where Richard Kulinksi is interviewed in prison, and the video game approaches this in its "stealth", then it's a pretty seriously fucked game.
One of Kulinksi's favorite ways to off someone was to take them up into a cave in the hills that had rats in it, tie them to a chair, set up a video camera, and watch the rats eat the victim... How's that for ste
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Yeah, well, the guy in Hitman is more like Don Corleone. In the game I played, he was living the life of a pauper in a Cath
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
You say that and then somehow conclude that thus the ad (why the capital letters?) isn't sexist? That's so strange. Of course the scantily clad woman is the reason why the ad may be perceived to be sexist. If you remove the woman, then no, it's not sexist anymore. The ad campaign was insufficiently sexist - wha
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Well, no, because the controversy isn't that it's a picture of dead woman, it's that they sexualized it, making the ad about necrophilia and even implying a rape/murder fantasy to some people.
A picture of a dead person in front of a painting just isn't the same. A better parallel would be a dead male charac
Actually, no one would mind (Score:2)
Depicting the killing of a woman, however, is worse than blaspheming God.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Yeah, I always wear sexy lingerie to sleep it. It's just so comfortable. Not.
The picture shows sex (a woman dressed up for sex) and violence/death. I think the people who add sex+violence and get rape, or sex+death and get necrophilia are not the ones with issues. The ad is rather disturbing.
Re:The Anti-Hitman Thing Annoys Me (Score:2)
Re:From Google: (Score:2)
How about neither? (Score:2)
Why this ad? (Score:2, Informative)
geez (Score:2)
Then the encroachment of ads into everyday space. Where formerly advertisement was clearly visible as such we have product placement, paid-for reviews and other mixing with actual content nowadays. In
how is it related (Score:1)
I want this game. (Score:1)
LK
Re:I want this game. (Score:2)
Re:I want this game. (Score:2)
LK
Apparently, Not Sexy Enough (Score:2)
Apparently the version [joystiq.com] discussed on adcritic wasn't sexy enough, because the version [hitmanforum.com] of the same ad up now on the hitmanforums website is much more explicit.
Nobody would have talk about this if... (Score:2, Insightful)
Fine line between stupidand clever(ob. spinal tap) (Score:2)
"Um... yes, yes."
"Have you seen the cover?"
"Um... no, no, I don't think I have."
"It's a rather lurid cover, I mean...ah, it's, it's like naked women, and, uh...."
"He's tied down to this table, and he's got these whips and they're all...semi-nude.
"Knockin' on 'im and it's like much worse..."
"What's the point?"
"Well the point is it's much worse than 'Smell the Glove'
"Because he's the victim. Their objections were that she was th
Sex* (Score:1)
Is it sexist? In a neutral context, not at all. But it's not in a neutral context, it's in the context of the world that exists today. This society is a sexist society that objectifies women. So to be pragmatic, let's say it is and it isn't.
Is the art in the game that good? (Score:2)
There's no technical reason for the game art not to be as good as the box art. Today's graphics cards can do the job. Game reviews should downgrade games where the game art is worse than the box art, because there just isn't an excuse for that any more.
GamePro's article... (Score:2)
Professional (Score:2)
Leon would not be pleased...
Hitman Rocks (Score:2)
Ah, Kids today (Score:2)
Now you would think this game would have your nice teeny bopper looking after a group of well groomed kids in suburbia, right!...
Nope. Basically the game started off with "the babysitter" spread over a sofa. She apparently has her boyfriend over. Guess what, you play the boyfriend.
Now what could the point of the game be. Yep, you guessed it. You
Re:What do I think? (Score:4, Informative)
This ad is for the FOURTH Hitman. Hitman 2 was out years ago.
LK
Re:ad in context (Score:1)
bonus points if you can figure out
1 from where was she shot*
2 aproximate caliber/type of bullet
* yes i know that she most likely moved after the shot.
Re:ad in context (Score:2)
1 from where was she shot*
2 aproximate caliber/type of bullet
The powder burns on her forehead and the apparent lack of stippling indicate that the shot was fired from close range, VERY close range. The end of the barrel or silencer was pressed into her forehead at the time the shot was fired.
The size of the entry wound AND my knowledge of the previous three hitman games lead me to believe that the gun was a