[MUD-Dev] [BIZ] Selling Sex, Power, and Prestige

[Dave Kennerly]

Hopefully a little of this information helps continue a couple of
the recent gender threads ("Girl Appeal") and the consideration of
the survey and who plays EverQuest ("Everquest player survey with
interesting points").  I am grateful for any feedback.



David Kennerly, 4 February 2002
Shadows of Lust: Subconsciously Selling Sex, Power, and Prestige in
an EverQuestR Expansion Advertisement

        "The business man's hunt for sales boosters is leading him
        into a strange wilderness: the subconscious mind."

        (Wall Street Journal, pg. 1. qtd. Packard 22)

Mike turns twenty-three this year.  He is a single male and recent
college graduate who earns about $20 per hour. He casually plays
some computer games, surfs the net, and chats online.  In early
2002, Mike visits a computer game retail store to consider how he
will spend some of his free time and money. He browses the pages of
PCGamer, "The World's Best-Selling Computer Game Magazine" (Imagine
Media).  One third of the way through he pauses to look at a folded,
three-page wide advertisement insert.

Underneath the embossed small-capitalized, gold letters of
"EverQuestR" lies the title of the painting, "The Shadows of
LuclinT."  A globe fills the black sky background; in it swirl
clouds, land, and water.  In the foreground stands a tiger-man with
sword and a snarling wolf, both looking off page. A fair elf-maiden
in soft, scanty clothing suddenly glances into the eyes of the
viewer.  Although her expression is neutral, her lips slightly part.
Mike unfolds the advertisement, buys the game, and starts his
subscription to the service required to play the game, because he
has subconsciously longed to become that tiger and meet that woman.
Mike is a hypothetical example of the target viewer of the
advertisement: single male, age 20-25 (Castronova 24), computer
savvy, and familiar with the fantasy-genre (Yee). What appears to be
an advertisement for a game service is much more; it is a
subconscious advertisement for sex, power, and prestige.

The advertisement consciously sells technical power. The copy
stresses the technical power of this game: "high-resolution",
"complete 3D overhaul", with "over four times the number of
polygons" (Sony).  The advertisement mentions this evidence to
persuade the reader that he will become more technically powerful by
using this game.  The advertisement includes a sweepstakes that
sells power to the customer.  The sweepstakes is rich with allusions
to what the "Power Player" (Sony) may win: the "most incredible PC
gaming system available" (Sony).  Superlatives topple over each
other to impress the viewer about its power and speed.  For example,
the manufacturer cleverly compares the machine to a bird of prey and
the speed of sound by dubbing the computer both "Falcon" and "MACH
V".  This technical power appeals to the target white-collar male.
Mechanical, or in this case computational, power reassures him of
his masculinity (Packard 74).  Although a computer is not as
masculine as a car, anything that is more powerful is a symbolic
increase of the owner's virility (Packard 75).

The advertisement's painting uses the tiger-man as a syntagm (an
object that symbolically represents a concept within a paradigm,
Dyer 126) to sell male sexual power. A tiger-man stands, ready to
fight in the painting's foreground.  The tiger is a symbol of sexual
power in Asia and is at least a symbol of practical power in the
West. Here he accentuates his virility.  He carries a sword, reveals
his sharp fangs and muscular form.  His fur color is almost a fiery
orange.  He stands in a dominant position, about one-foot higher
than the delicate elf-maiden.  These details communicate to the
viewer that this male model is dominant (Dyer 97-100). Although
probably unintentional by the artist, the viewer will at least
subconsciously notice that the tiger-man and elf-maiden come close
to joining.  The tiger-man handles a snarling wolf, which in some
ways is an extension of himself.  It shares similar fangs, fur, a
white underside, and a potent demeanor. Because the tiger-man has a
humanoid body and tiger's head, the target viewer identifies with
him.  The animal head is like a theatrical, religious, or mythic
mask.  The tiger is the target viewer's self-image (Packard 45).
Any male can symbolically become the tiger. The viewer, invoking the
tiger, feels vigor, power, and virility. Thus a bond is made.  As
Dyer wrote: "[O]nce this initial connection has been made we almost
automatically accept the object for the feeling." (116)

Besides power, the viewer has another reason to identify with the
tiger-man: to meet the woman of his dreams (Packard 74).  The
elf-maiden in this painting is the ideal girlfriend of the target
viewer. Except for her pointed ears, she looks completely human. But
she does not look like just any human.  To the target viewer, she is
an ideal sex-image.  She appears to be a fair-skinned, slender woman
about eighteen to twenty-two years old, which is ideal for the
target market.  She adorns herself in scanty, form-fitting clothing.
She has long blonde hair, which may symbolically represent healthy
sexuality (Dyer 135). Her pose and scanty clothing reveal most of
her body to the viewer, which allows him to judge her beautiful
physique.  The viewer has a lot to like. She wears soft, delicate,
baby blue colors, which helps make her seem innocent and virginal.
Therefore, she has some of the characteristics of an archetypal
maiden, although this one is not a helpless maiden.  Her staff
symbolizes that she is powerful.  So far, her body and clothes
communicate her beauty, power, and innocence.

But the attraction extends beyond the flesh, because she shares one
of the interests of the viewer: interest in the fantasy genre.  She
wears fantastic clothes, carries a magical staff, and adorns herself
with exotic emerald jewelry.  That is rare.  Male fantasy-genre fans
vastly outnumber female fans on Earth.  Most women have little
interest in the fantasy genre and have little interest in a Dungeons
& DragonsR-style game, but she has great interest in it.  She
participates in an exciting battle against fantastic foes.  To the
target viewer, this increases her appeal and partly bridges lust to
romance.

Yet romance requires mutual interest, and some exists here. She at
least recognizes the viewer.  Out of the ten humanoids in the
painting, she is the only one that is gazing into the eyes of the
viewer.  She looks at him with a neutral expression, but lips
slightly parted.  She establishes eye contact.  By virtue of the
stillness of a painting, she maintains eye contact indefinitely.
She gets the viewer's attention and transfers it, by her pose, to
the rest of the painting to her right.

The whole of the painting evokes nostalgia in the target viewer.
The art style is reminiscent of Dungeons & DragonsR games and
fantasy novel covers, which the target viewer has probably seen
(Yee).  The characters and creatures are straight from common
fantasy novels and games.  The title "EverQuestR" sells the core
activity of fantasy novels: the quest.  The subtitle "The Shadows of
LuclinT" reminds the viewer of common fantasy novel and game
titles. Thus, this ad offers roots.  It appeals to the viewer who
has played or read the fantasy genre. The target viewer needs these
roots (Packard 76).

The product's service gives the viewer companions to share these
roots with.  The ad repeatedly hammers the companionship available:
"Join hundreds of thousands of real people", "make friends", "take
part", and "play cooperatively" (Sony). Appeal to companionship
helps sell the product (Packard 272).

If sex or companionship fail, then all is not lost for the
publisher.  The advertisement also gratifies the viewer's ego and
reassures his worth (Packard 72).  The golden warrior in the center
of combat is rich.  His armor is rich and prestigious.  By
transference, the owner of the armor is rich and prestigious.  By
identification, the viewer accepts the self-image of the golden
warrior.  The viewer can become the golden warrior.  He is
positioned facing away from the viewer, so his face is not visible.
The viewer may imagine the face to be the viewer's own face.  This
position is also similar to a third-person view that is used in many
games.

"The Shadows of LuclinT" expansion advertisement communicates much
more than a casual observation would consciously recognize.  The
advertisement wins the heart of the target viewer, usually without
the target viewer being aware of the influence.  The artful
advertisement may influence the target viewer to buy the product and
service without being aware of why.  If asked, the viewer might
rationalize that he had been sold a game (Packard 14), but the
nonverbal offer was sex, power, and prestige.


Works Cited

  Castronova, Edward (2001) "Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of
  Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier", The Gruter Institute
  Working Papers on Law, Economics, and Evolutionary Biology:
  Vol. 2: Article 1.

    http://www.bepress.com/giwp/default/vol2/iss1/art1

  Dyer, Gillian. Advertising as Communication. London, United
  Kingdom: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1982.

  Imagine Media. PCGamer. Brisbane, California: Imagine Media,
  January 2002.
 
  Packard, Vance. The Hidden Persuaders. New York: Washington Square
  Press, 1957.

  Sony Computer Entertainment America. "EverQuestR: The Shadows of
  LuclinT" advertisement. PC Gamer. Brisbane, California: Imagine
  Media, January 2002: 32-33.

  Yee, Nicholas (2001) "The Norrathian Scrolls: A Study of
  EverQuest" (version 2.5) http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/report.html


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