Advergames: Providing Valuable Content or Deceptive Brand Messaging?

Advergames are online games used to advertise products, brands, or organizations across a brand’s digital and social properties.  Over the last few years, marketers have explored the different ways to create content.  The phrase “content is king” is still alive and well as marketers have assumed the role of publisher, creating more than just brand messaging to communication with its audience.  Content has been created in the form of articles, images, and videos.  These formats can be engaged with, but don’t involve the same level of commitment as a game, which brings us to the advergame.  The average time spent with an advergame is 7– 30 minutes!  That is significantly longer than other forms of advertising and even native placements.  Why wouldn’t all brands create advergames to engage consumers and integrate some subtle brand messaging?  Here are some brands that have created advergames: Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Lucky Charms, Sour Patch Kids, Starbucks, and Expedia.

Do you think advergames are a good form of content?  While I think most are harmless, some are subtly marketing unhealthy food to children.  Children spend about an hour each month playing advergames and are 77% more likely to visit pages with advergames and spend 88% more time on those sites.  The bright colors and entertaining images appeal to children, but they don’t understand that it is an advertisement.  Children are easily influenced by the things they see around them.  While the FCC has some restrictions on marketing to children that apply to traditional media, digital media regulations are less defined.  Some food companies have chosen to feature healthy foods in their advergames, but many still market unhealthy choices.  Does the product or brand in the advergame make a difference on whether or not you would want your child exposed to them?  Or are all advergames concerning for their ability to unsuspectingly advertise to children?