There’s a post over at the Gamerscore Blog listing all the upcoming promotions that will accompany the Halo 3 release next month (they’ve already sold 1 million pre-orders! This is insane!). They’re going to market the heck out of this game. Mountain Dew, 7-11, Burger King, Pontiac (Wait, what?) and others.
I don’t understand this. Is Microsoft paying for this? Halo 3 sells itself, it really seems like their marketing money could be better spent marketing other games that are juggernauts like Halo 3 is. Or, I don’t know, redirected to make a better system that doesn’t overheat. That sounds like a good idea, right?
Maybe it’s the other way around? Do these other companies/brands want to be associated with Halo 3? I’m pretty sure I’ll be no more persuaded to by a Pontiac car because it was tangentially related to the Halo 3 video game. I’m also positive my Whooper with cheese (extra tomato, onion, no lettuce) will not taste any better because it came in a Halo 3 wrapper. I just don’t understand marketing.
I guess that’s why I’m an engineer.