Barack Obama Erects Campaign Billboards on Virtual Roadside

Drive this month through the fictional streets of Paradise City — part of the Xbox 360 version of the game "Burnout Paradise"—and you'll see something new on the virtual roadside: billboards for Barack Obama.

In an apparent attempt to reach young men, who have the lowest voting rates of any age and gender group, the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign has placed ads in 18 video games, also including "Guitar Hero" and "NASCAR 08." The game updates are available online for Xbox 360.

After the 2004 presidential election, 46 percent of men age 18 to 29 reported casting a ballot, compared to 64 percent of all adults, according to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Younger voters are leaning heavily toward Obama," says Michael Dimock, associate director at the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. "The issue is getting them to the polls."

And that may be achieved through the video game console.

According to Mariam Sughayer, a spokeswoman for Electronic Arts Inc., which is running the ads in nine of its games, the typical player is male and age 16 to 32.

The ads will run until Nov. 3 and target 10 states that allow early voting, many up for grabs: Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado.

The McCain campaign was also offered advertising space but declined, according to Sughayer.

Maybe John McCain—who has called himself a computer "Neanderthal"—had trouble getting online. Or maybe he just prefers the Wii.

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