While watching the Ukraine news on the worldâs major video-streaming platform earlier today, I refrained from skipping an ad for possibly the first time in my life. I saw the familiar, distressed face of Kyivâs mayor pleading the world for help. I couldnât just press the arrow. The dude might have been speaking for the last time.
Having read earlier that YouTube barred RT and other state-tentacle Russian propaganda outlets from their ability to monetize their content, I immediately thought that this may be another action taken by the information giant to contribute towards saving the worldâs future. I believe it would be a wise move for them to sacrifice part of their revenue and show everyone whatâs now more important than people selling stuff, potentially safeguarding their own existence in a free, interconnected world.
But then, on to the next video, pops another adâŠ
âWhat if Mexico invaded the US?â a grave voice wondered.
I donât play any video games, let alone world-war ones. Advertisers, smartly enough, have never been targeting me with games ads directly. I was distantly aware of video games being even advertised, only by subconsciously glancing at them in impersonalized ad spaces online. I wasnât prepared for what was coming.
I thought that it must be some kind of anti-war message placed urgently by YouTube. So I let it play. And finally, after going through a minute-long speech lamenting the fate of humanity, the ad culminates with âplay that world-domination whatever bullshit strategy game!â
SilenceâŠ
Are we even serious?
As a Greek proverb goes, the world is getting burnt and the pussyâs getting combed. I donât know about you, but I find it outrageous that this tragedy is being exploited in such ironic and uncouth manners by the profiteers of the very games that were probably played by those young soldiers who are now underway to kill themselves in a bid to kill their neighbors.
Since drugs, alcohol, gambling, cigarettes, weapons, and indeed a thousand different kinds of dangerous products are outlawed or regulated, I donât see by what a logic war strategy gamesâââa product promoting and extolling the most harmful of human activitiesâââare left completely unrestrained to be throwing silly ads around and playing a part in educating the next generations.
In the future, there should be a serious discussion about completely eradicating the notion of imaginary war as recreation â be it through video games, physical gun toys, heroic war films, or whatever. But for now, it would be a good thing to see the worldâs major information platforms reining in advertisers who speculate on human suffering while fostering more suffering.
