Obama Campaign Running Ads on Video Games

Millions of Americans enjoy playing video games to relax and have fun. It's nice to get away from the real world and play the latest football game against friends. Well, if you live in a swing state and you are looking to get away from Election 2012, I've got bad news. The Obama Campaign will be running ads on video games soon. If this sounds familiar, the campaign did the same thing in 2008. According to CBS:

“It was made clear in the last election that reaching consumers through video games makes a significant impact, so it’s no surprise to

see this tactic used once again in such a competitive election,” Dave Madden, EA’s senior vice president of global media solutions, told ad week.

According to a survey conducted by EA over the 2008 video game ad campaign, the company found that 50 percent of those were more likely to vote for Obama seeing him in in-game ads.

“The video game industry has gone through significant change since the last election, especially with the popularity of online, mobile and social games, and we’ve seen an expansion of our audience as a result,” Madden explained to Ad Week. “Video games actively and emotionally engaged consumers in a way that no other medium really can and that translates into a big opportunity for political candidates.”

The ads are set to run across multiple video games, including Madden, Battleship, Tetris and Pogo.com.

The San Francisco Business Times reports the ads will run in Ohio, Nevada, Virginia, Iowa and New Hampshire.

It wouldn't surprise me if Mitt Romney decided to do the same thing. Look for both campaigns to advertise heavily on social media as well.