ASA Adjudication on Electronic Arts Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for the computer game ‘The Sims 3' showed images of characters from the game and included on-screen text that stated "Graphics representative of game".

Issue

A viewer challenged whether the ad and the on-screen text misleadingly implied that the quality of the graphics and animation shown would be the same in the game.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Electronic Arts Ltd (EA) said, because the ad was broadcast in High Definition (HD) and shown in some cinemas, it was necessary to increase the resolution of the images to ensure its acceptability for broadcast on TV.  They stated that the original graphics from the game were used in the ad but in areas where the images could not be exported, for example, for buildings, the images were recreated based upon the original game design.  The animation, lighting and camera movements were not created by the game but EA argued that they were common dramatic sequences that appeared in most video games between game levels.  Because the action of the game had been scripted, EA included an on-screen super that stated "graphics representative of game", which they believe made it clear the scenes in the ad did not originate from actual gameplay.   

Clearcast said the advertiser had told them the footage was created by the game engine and the on-screen text "representative of actual game" was therefore required.  Although the advertiser did not make them fully aware of how the images were generated, they nonetheless believed the ad was not misleading because the on-screen text made clear images were not actual gameplay.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA understood that EA had adjusted the pixellation of the images to avoid distortion when shown on TV, which meant that the graphics featured in the ad did differ in quality from those attainable in the game.  However, we noted the on-screen text stated that the graphics were "representative" of the game which we considered made it clear to viewers the ad did not show actual gameplay images or graphics.

We considered that viewers would understand that the scenes were dramatic sequences, commonplace in computer games, and distinct from gameplay. Because we considered it would be clear to viewers the images were not from actual gameplay and the on-screen text affirmed that images were merely "representative" we concluded the ad was unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)