Playing video games causes "early death" says government

Sony reportedly considering legal action

10 March 2009 11:28 GMT / By Verity Burns

A new advert launched by the Department of Health has suggested playing video games could lead to an "early death".

As part of the Change4Life active lifestyle campaign, the ad has been launched in magazines and on the 4yourkids website, backed by organisations such as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and Diabetes UK.

The ad shows a rather fed-up looking young boy holding what looks to be a PlayStation Dual Shock controller, next to the slogan, "Risk an early death, just do nothing".

This has reportedly angered Sony, as a source close to the company has said it was not consulted about the ad or the use of a controller with such a strong resemblance to its Dual Shock pad.

The company is now apparently considering legal action against The Gate, the agency behind the advert, which will presumably attempt to get the ad pulled, or have a more generic controller used instead.

Sony is not the only company in the industry to be angered by the advert, especially considering the government's own Byron Review said there was no solid evidence to link video games to obesity.

Still, it's good to know that the campaign is not just targeting games. Another ad released by the campaign shows a bakewell cake being blamed for "premature death". Watch out you cake-eating game players.

Full tags

Gaming, PS3, Sony