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Rule breaking and deviance are becoming an ever increasing factor in sales of media and video games alike. It is becoming more apparent that there is a trend appearing – the further back the product pushes the boundaries of bad behaviour, the more money it will make from the consumer.
Let us consider this concept in terms of the popular rapper Eminem. Eminem is a huge rap star who is certainly not shy with respect to swearing in his music. As expected radio edits begin appearing which conceal his cursing from the public. However, as a knock-on effect of this, people rush to the shops to buy his uncut records by the bucket-load. Whether this be to impress friends, to feel deviant, or to be deviant, or something wholly innocent, it is a sales tactic that clearly works. Ask yourself this question, would Eminem be as appealing as a musician if he sang about love and kissing? Imagine:
‘Hi kids! Do you like violence? Wanna see me stick Nine Inch Nails through each one of my eyelids?’
Turning into:
‘Hi kids! Do you like ice cream? Wanna see me stick Nine Big Hearts onto each one of my flowers?’
Thought not! This concept of deviance and bad behaviour is clearly seen in the video game market. The Grand Theft Auto series of games is built around this paradigm. GTA involves primarily:
1) Carrying out criminal missions for gangs
2) Stealing cars
3) Driving cars at very high speeds
4) Killing pedestrians
This list is certainly not exhaustive – come on I have not even included the ‘Kill Frenzy’ element in the list! Do not misinterpret what I am saying, I love the GTA series of games, and have done since they were first released. However, I can say with some confidence that GTA would not have been anywhere near as much of a success if it were based around a legal system.
Deviance can also be seen in the media. It is an all too often story to see celebrities in bar brawls, gang fights, and other such deviant circumstances. I will accept that many of these cases are genuine, but many are staged for publicity. It was in a recent documentary called ‘Soap stars behaving badly’ where stars such as Richard Bacon used cocaine as a publicity stunt to move higher than mundane presenting. However, whether this worked for Richard or not is a topic of controversy! But the underlying principle remains the same, people want to buy deviant products.
In a recent post Goatboy wrote about a game called ‘Hooligan – Storm over Europe’ where football hooliganism is simulated. Could this be taking deviance and sales a step to far? Or is it the next logical progression in the ladder of bad behaviour and sales.
So the question is, would you buy a product simply on the basis that it breaks the rules? What about the people who stay up late and tune in to MTV to try to catch a glimpse of the latest Robbie Williams, George Michael, or Holly Valance video? What about people who buy Afroman’s crazy rap purely because over half of the words are cut in the edit? What about the state of gaming where an 18 tag virtually guarantees success in the market? Any thoughts?
I will leave you with this thought...
Are these games and media REALLY pushing back the boundaries of bad behaviour? Or has the increased tolerance of society have such media a larger ambit of political correctness to work within? Again, thoughts?
Let us consider this concept in terms of the popular rapper Eminem. Eminem is a huge rap star who is certainly not shy with respect to swearing in his music. As expected radio edits begin appearing which conceal his cursing from the public. However, as a knock-on effect of this, people rush to the shops to buy his uncut records by the bucket-load. Whether this be to impress friends, to feel deviant, or to be deviant, or something wholly innocent, it is a sales tactic that clearly works. Ask yourself this question, would Eminem be as appealing as a musician if he sang about love and kissing? Imagine:
‘Hi kids! Do you like violence? Wanna see me stick Nine Inch Nails through each one of my eyelids?’
Turning into:
‘Hi kids! Do you like ice cream? Wanna see me stick Nine Big Hearts onto each one of my flowers?’
Thought not! This concept of deviance and bad behaviour is clearly seen in the video game market. The Grand Theft Auto series of games is built around this paradigm. GTA involves primarily:
1) Carrying out criminal missions for gangs
2) Stealing cars
3) Driving cars at very high speeds
4) Killing pedestrians
This list is certainly not exhaustive – come on I have not even included the ‘Kill Frenzy’ element in the list! Do not misinterpret what I am saying, I love the GTA series of games, and have done since they were first released. However, I can say with some confidence that GTA would not have been anywhere near as much of a success if it were based around a legal system.
Deviance can also be seen in the media. It is an all too often story to see celebrities in bar brawls, gang fights, and other such deviant circumstances. I will accept that many of these cases are genuine, but many are staged for publicity. It was in a recent documentary called ‘Soap stars behaving badly’ where stars such as Richard Bacon used cocaine as a publicity stunt to move higher than mundane presenting. However, whether this worked for Richard or not is a topic of controversy! But the underlying principle remains the same, people want to buy deviant products.
In a recent post Goatboy wrote about a game called ‘Hooligan – Storm over Europe’ where football hooliganism is simulated. Could this be taking deviance and sales a step to far? Or is it the next logical progression in the ladder of bad behaviour and sales.
So the question is, would you buy a product simply on the basis that it breaks the rules? What about the people who stay up late and tune in to MTV to try to catch a glimpse of the latest Robbie Williams, George Michael, or Holly Valance video? What about people who buy Afroman’s crazy rap purely because over half of the words are cut in the edit? What about the state of gaming where an 18 tag virtually guarantees success in the market? Any thoughts?
I will leave you with this thought...
Are these games and media REALLY pushing back the boundaries of bad behaviour? Or has the increased tolerance of society have such media a larger ambit of political correctness to work within? Again, thoughts?
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Rule breaking and deviance are becoming an ever increasing factor in sales of media and video games alike. It is becoming more apparent that there is a trend appearing – the further back the product pushes the boundaries of bad behaviour, the more money it will make from the consumer.
Let us consider this concept in terms of the popular rapper Eminem. Eminem is a huge rap star who is certainly not shy with respect to swearing in his music. As expected radio edits begin appearing which conceal his cursing from the public. However, as a knock-on effect of this, people rush to the shops to buy his uncut records by the bucket-load. Whether this be to impress friends, to feel deviant, or to be deviant, or something wholly innocent, it is a sales tactic that clearly works. Ask yourself this question, would Eminem be as appealing as a musician if he sang about love and kissing? Imagine:
‘Hi kids! Do you like violence? Wanna see me stick Nine Inch Nails through each one of my eyelids?’
Turning into:
‘Hi kids! Do you like ice cream? Wanna see me stick Nine Big Hearts onto each one of my flowers?’
Thought not! This concept of deviance and bad behaviour is clearly seen in the video game market. The Grand Theft Auto series of games is built around this paradigm. GTA involves primarily:
1) Carrying out criminal missions for gangs
2) Stealing cars
3) Driving cars at very high speeds
4) Killing pedestrians
This list is certainly not exhaustive – come on I have not even included the ‘Kill Frenzy’ element in the list! Do not misinterpret what I am saying, I love the GTA series of games, and have done since they were first released. However, I can say with some confidence that GTA would not have been anywhere near as much of a success if it were based around a legal system.
Deviance can also be seen in the media. It is an all too often story to see celebrities in bar brawls, gang fights, and other such deviant circumstances. I will accept that many of these cases are genuine, but many are staged for publicity. It was in a recent documentary called ‘Soap stars behaving badly’ where stars such as Richard Bacon used cocaine as a publicity stunt to move higher than mundane presenting. However, whether this worked for Richard or not is a topic of controversy! But the underlying principle remains the same, people want to buy deviant products.
In a recent post Goatboy wrote about a game called ‘Hooligan – Storm over Europe’ where football hooliganism is simulated. Could this be taking deviance and sales a step to far? Or is it the next logical progression in the ladder of bad behaviour and sales.
So the question is, would you buy a product simply on the basis that it breaks the rules? What about the people who stay up late and tune in to MTV to try to catch a glimpse of the latest Robbie Williams, George Michael, or Holly Valance video? What about people who buy Afroman’s crazy rap purely because over half of the words are cut in the edit? What about the state of gaming where an 18 tag virtually guarantees success in the market? Any thoughts?
I will leave you with this thought...
Are these games and media REALLY pushing back the boundaries of bad behaviour? Or has the increased tolerance of society have such media a larger ambit of political correctness to work within? Again, thoughts?
Let us consider this concept in terms of the popular rapper Eminem. Eminem is a huge rap star who is certainly not shy with respect to swearing in his music. As expected radio edits begin appearing which conceal his cursing from the public. However, as a knock-on effect of this, people rush to the shops to buy his uncut records by the bucket-load. Whether this be to impress friends, to feel deviant, or to be deviant, or something wholly innocent, it is a sales tactic that clearly works. Ask yourself this question, would Eminem be as appealing as a musician if he sang about love and kissing? Imagine:
‘Hi kids! Do you like violence? Wanna see me stick Nine Inch Nails through each one of my eyelids?’
Turning into:
‘Hi kids! Do you like ice cream? Wanna see me stick Nine Big Hearts onto each one of my flowers?’
Thought not! This concept of deviance and bad behaviour is clearly seen in the video game market. The Grand Theft Auto series of games is built around this paradigm. GTA involves primarily:
1) Carrying out criminal missions for gangs
2) Stealing cars
3) Driving cars at very high speeds
4) Killing pedestrians
This list is certainly not exhaustive – come on I have not even included the ‘Kill Frenzy’ element in the list! Do not misinterpret what I am saying, I love the GTA series of games, and have done since they were first released. However, I can say with some confidence that GTA would not have been anywhere near as much of a success if it were based around a legal system.
Deviance can also be seen in the media. It is an all too often story to see celebrities in bar brawls, gang fights, and other such deviant circumstances. I will accept that many of these cases are genuine, but many are staged for publicity. It was in a recent documentary called ‘Soap stars behaving badly’ where stars such as Richard Bacon used cocaine as a publicity stunt to move higher than mundane presenting. However, whether this worked for Richard or not is a topic of controversy! But the underlying principle remains the same, people want to buy deviant products.
In a recent post Goatboy wrote about a game called ‘Hooligan – Storm over Europe’ where football hooliganism is simulated. Could this be taking deviance and sales a step to far? Or is it the next logical progression in the ladder of bad behaviour and sales.
So the question is, would you buy a product simply on the basis that it breaks the rules? What about the people who stay up late and tune in to MTV to try to catch a glimpse of the latest Robbie Williams, George Michael, or Holly Valance video? What about people who buy Afroman’s crazy rap purely because over half of the words are cut in the edit? What about the state of gaming where an 18 tag virtually guarantees success in the market? Any thoughts?
I will leave you with this thought...
Are these games and media REALLY pushing back the boundaries of bad behaviour? Or has the increased tolerance of society have such media a larger ambit of political correctness to work within? Again, thoughts?