Aardman Animation create less spiteful gaming advert for Change4Life

It is not all that long ago we all got a bit miffed at a UK government sponsored advert that showed a rather unhappy child sitting on a sofa ‘playing’ a PlayStation 3. The ad implied such actions will result in an increased risk of contracting heart disease and dying at a young age.

Almost all of the gaming media, including us, thought the advert was idiotic and scapegoating in nature, and it seems Change4Life have seen the error of their way too.

As a result, the new TV advert, which has been put together by the guys behind Wallace & Gromit, Aardman Animation, paints gaming in a much better light, championing ‘active video games’ instead of lambasting our hobby in one fell swoop.

“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 more,” said Dawn Primarolo, the minister for public health.

“Little bits of activity like this, throughout the day can easily add up to the 60 active minutes kids need. But our survey shows that at the moment our kids just aren’t getting up and about enough.”

The new advert is part of the UK government’s £75m anti-obesity advertising strategy.

[Thanks, Guardian (who also have the video on show)]