opossums and burros and crabs, oh my!

I don't know how many of you have seen the Honda Element commercials with the crab and stuff, but there is also a game (which my seminar class played with for, um, twenty minutes tonight).

It's a little online game where you drive a Honda Element around and find different animals and talk to them/help them. In a few instances, it gives you choices as to what you can say to/do with the animals.

Obviously, this game is pretty basic. But the idea of advertising as a part of an immersive experience is a common one (like all the blatant product placement in major motion pictures)--we're immersed, and therefore already in a state where we're accepting things we might not normally accept. It becomes even more powerful with something like a video game, IMO, because people aren't just being bombarded with ads while they watch a movie. They're actually choosing to play a game that IS an advertisement.

Not that this game makes me like the Honda Element more. It's still an ugly car.