FIFA Soccer 12: USA Gets its Own Ad Version
Video games, like books, movies, and art are inherently cultural products. Differing cultures “read” cultural products differently. They occupy differing collections of values. EA Sports, that marketing behemoth, knows this fully. That’s why the ads for FIFA Soccer 12 differ based on geography. The UK version is quite different from the US version. We suspect that, asides from cultural differences, the differences in the relative popularity of soccer in the US and Europe also explains the differences in the ads. The US ad for FIFA Soccer 12 shows the FIFA game as a collective game you play with friends. It tries to play up the competitive participatory aspect of soccer. In essence, it is a pastime that is both spectator sport and participatory.
In the UK version of FIFA Soccer 12, the focus is on the drive behind soccer. The ad drives home the point that regardless of where you are, what you do, what you look like, football is in the soul. Indeed, it shows a football fan on a hospital gurney excited about FIFA Soccer 12 being played by his kids. The difference can’t be anymore striking. The US ad shows soccer as just one option of many. An exciting option. A great option. But still one of many. The UK ad shows FIFA Soccer 12 in the light many European fans see soccer – it is not a game – it is an activity that contains all the vitality, the drive, the drama, the force… of life itself. With that said, it should be quite interesting to compare a US football ad to a European soccer ad.
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