change4life
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British NHS lauds Wii Fit Plus for flabby bum-busting potential
You know, we've been pretty skeptical about the whole "fit" part of the "Wii Fit" phenomenon, and for good reason: as studies have shown, the health benefits of gaming, whether you're sitting, standing, or faux-bowling, are minimal at best. Still, for a number of consumers at home and abroad, the game conjures up notions of leading an active lifestyle. So perhaps it is no surprise, as the Telegraph reports, that Britain's National Health Service is using it to promote its Change4Life initiative -- even going so far as to allow the company to append the Change4Life logo on its upcoming Wii Fit Plus release. And how about those who cry foul -- specifically, those who point out that the deal includes Nintendo shelling out money to help promote the NHS-funded program. See how one might get the idea that this is a "pay to play" affair? To the government's credit, it does stress that it's endorsing an exercise, not a video game system. "Active video games, where kids need to jump up and down or dance about as part of the game, are a great way to get kids moving," a spokesperson said. Rob Saunders, the British spokesman for Nintendo, had this to say: "If you are worried about your bingo wings or your flabby bum, the game will give you specific exercises to target those areas." Bingo wings? Flabby bums? Why didn't you say so in the first place?[Via Yahoo]
ASA won't do anything about Change4Life ad
The Advertising Standards Authority, within Her Majesty's domain in the UK, has rejected complaints that the government's Change4Life campaign is misleading or offensive. GI.biz reports that while the ASA did understand the complaints of trade group Tiga and several publishers, it found that the ad didn't "claim that playing computer or console games alone would lead to illness or premature death.""The Council" at the ASA found that most readers would understand that the ad was simply discouraging a sedentary lifestyle -- yes, but then why not put something else in the boy's hands ... like a book? Of course, if a book was put in the boy's hands to illustrate the point, it might upset the "only" time the ASA can act, which is when something "offends against widely accepted moral, social or cultural standards." Simply stated: games aren't a cultural standard, yet.
