Press Release

November 19th, 2010

Ace Metrix Creative Insight: Controversial “Call of Duty” Video Game Ad Scores High with Young Men, Offends Women

Play Real Life Duty”, advertising Activision’s new “Call of Duty: Black Ops” video game is receiving a polarizing reaction from male and female viewers. According to Ace Metrix™, the creative lifecycle management company, the ad, featuring a montage of real people engaged in simulated video game gunfire, registered a 277 point difference between male and female viewers. Male viewers, age 16-20, gave the ad an Ace Score™ of 770 (out of total of 950) and female viewers, age 36-49 scored the ad 518. With an overall Ace Score of 644, the ad scored almost 70 points above the video game category norm of 576. The ad also features a cameo of pro basketball star Kobe Bryant and “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones as its soundtrack.

Selected consumer comments tell the story. A 16-20 year old male said, “Epic! I’m loving it, I’m getting it,” while a 36-49 year old female said, “Enough with the violent video games! Enough violence in this world, we don’t NEED more!”

“This ad definitely caught people’s attention having recorded one of the highest attention scores that we’ve seen. The ad did better among males than females, but females under 35 still reacted positively. Women thirty-five and older did not like the ad, with many commenting about the violence, but then again they aren’t likely to be in the market for war-based video games,” commented Peter Daboll, chief executive of Ace Metrix.

To view the ad, please click here.

Following is the complete Ace Score™ breakdown:

Measure Ace Score Snack Norm
Ace Score 644 576
Persuasion 672 618
Watchability 638 606
Likeability 714 647
Information 617 601
Attention 755 668
Change 660 634
Relevance 654 591
Desire 673 614

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