Spreading throughout the communities of World of Warcraft and The Sims is the topic about the game footage movies addressing social concerns surrounding the exploitation of third-world producers. While these ads were supposed to promote the Fair Trade Mark of the Fair Trade Foundation, they've been a hot topic of debate with flames licking both sides of the battlefield.
What was ultimately surprising is the fact that both communities actually have a lot of knowledge of the issues addressed by the Fair Trade videos. In fact, Hugh Hancock, the director of the videos, was happy to comment on the repercussions brought about by the advertisements:
The reaction from the Internet has been fascinating! Whilst some people might think of hard-core gamers as apathetic or apolitical, we're seeing a lot of informed, intelligent and passionate advocacy and enthusiasm on both sides of the fence. If anything, I'd say that the men and women who are playing World of Warcraft and The Sims 2 seem to be more interested in talking about these issues than most!
The video advertisements placed by Fair Trade Fortnight were created using Machinima, a tool used by most creative folk to make movies in game engines.
The Unreal engine is well-known for incorporating Machinima to produce in-game movie sequences. The Strange Company, in cooperation with Hand Up Media, will be creating more sets of ethical Machinima movies which will premiere in the next year. Here, check out the Sims version of the advertisements.
