Return Of The Aggressively Competitive Gaming Ad

Do you long for the days when video game ads were designed to attack or undermine competitive products? Don’t despair. We can confirm such days are still here.

EA’s got a Wii fitness game. It’s called EA Sports Active.

Don’t believe us? Try Googling it. But don’t type in “EA Sports Active.” Type in “EA Active.” Note the sponsored links listed on the right.

What looks like an “EA Active” ad is an ad for Ubisoft’s Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout.

Nintendo’s got a Wii fitness game. It’s called Wii Fit.

You knew that? Just confirm that fact by Googling it. Type in Wii Fit. Note the sponsored links listed on the right. Hey, it’s another Ubi ad!

It appears that someone or some company — Ubisoft? Gold’s Gym? — is buying the Google keywords of competitive products to better promote their own game. We’ve contacted Ubisoft for comment on the ads.

Now this is the kind of aggressive, kick-the-competition advertising the gaming industry has lacked since Crash Bandicoot stopped trash-talking non-Sony consoles.

Makes you wonder what other keywords companies might want to buy. We can think of many candidates for ads that result from the search term “God of War” or “Brain Age.”