Today's lesson in responsible online marketing is the
cautionary tale of Evony, a multiplayer game supported by
"freemium" upgrades (making cash payments for optional items in an
otherwise free game) and buying up as much Internet ad space as humanly
possible. Which, in and of itself, is fine. The problem arose when its ads went
from guys in armor and goofy helmets (below at left) to girls with boobs to girls with bigger
boobs to just boobs (shown above right, needless to say). See the chronological chest expansion here. The copy got more suggestive along the way too, ultimately advertising discretion and secrecy alongside sexual imagery. The only reason to
keep it a secret is to prevent bullies from dunking your head in the toilet. And according to the comments, Evony is the subject of a lot of message board
spam, which makes sense. We don't know what makes online advertisers think they
have free reign to badger people, but it's worth emphasizing that getting our
attention isn't the end goal of marketing—selling the product is. Getting
our attention is a means to that end. And people who sign up for Evony
expecting boobs won't buy anything when they get chain mail and codpieces
instead.
—Posted by David Kiefaber
