eHarmony advertises in Warsong Gulch

Quinionn on Magtheridon sent us this picture -- apparently dating website eHarmony has gotten in on the in-game advertising just in time for Valentine's Day. He had just joined a Warsong Gulch when this guy showed up spamming an ad.
There's a number of strange things going on here -- as far as we know, this isn't an official Blizzard move, but most of the people spamming ads in the game are shady gold-selling websites, not real corporations with bigger profiles. And the weirdest thing might be this: Eharmony on Arthas isn't a one-time character created to spam in Trade -- he's level 80 with 450 Jewelcrafting and Mining. There's actually a lot of characters with the same name around, with different levels and classes, even in different guilds (though this one is probably the funniest).
Very weird. At the very least, the spammer's aiming to lose his character, and at worst, if this is an organized action, Blizzard might actually have a case against eHarmony for spamming inside the game. Have you seen any other ads like this around the game?
Update: Mystery seems to be solved: it was just some guy messing around. Strange way to mess around, though. He's in our comments, and says he's getting a free name change after the GMs said what he was doing was not so cool.
There's a number of strange things going on here -- as far as we know, this isn't an official Blizzard move, but most of the people spamming ads in the game are shady gold-selling websites, not real corporations with bigger profiles. And the weirdest thing might be this: Eharmony on Arthas isn't a one-time character created to spam in Trade -- he's level 80 with 450 Jewelcrafting and Mining. There's actually a lot of characters with the same name around, with different levels and classes, even in different guilds (though this one is probably the funniest).
Very weird. At the very least, the spammer's aiming to lose his character, and at worst, if this is an organized action, Blizzard might actually have a case against eHarmony for spamming inside the game. Have you seen any other ads like this around the game?
Update: Mystery seems to be solved: it was just some guy messing around. Strange way to mess around, though. He's in our comments, and says he's getting a free name change after the GMs said what he was doing was not so cool.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Alts, Battlegrounds






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
SnuffyWuffy Feb 13th 2009 3:05PM
Meh, I guess they figured WoW players would be looking for love.
Robert M Feb 13th 2009 4:10PM
LOL, I always knew Athas was a homophobe.
Sorta explains alot huh, like maybe why he had such content for that androgynous Kael'thas Sunstrider?
What greater irony than for Arthas to serve the evil!
/spit
/laugh
Robert M Feb 13th 2009 4:12PM
um, make that contempt, sorry!
LandMineHare Feb 13th 2009 4:42PM
And make it Arthas?
Kagenote Feb 13th 2009 3:12PM
Oh man. Now I gotta change my main's name to farmersonly.com
Andrew Feb 13th 2009 3:11PM
Actually, it's probably just a character named Eharmony who thought it would be funny.
Punjab Feb 13th 2009 3:14PM
I hope it doesn't backfire on him/her with a banning.
Jyotai Feb 13th 2009 3:24PM
That may be, but if I were Blizzard I'd break out the ban stick and unleash the lawyers, just to be sure.
There are two potential lawsuits here.
1. If this is eharmony, they're facing a lawsuit.
2. If it is some idiot using that name and thinking they're being funny, eHarmony can sue him for trademark infringement as well as misrepresentation.
Kevin Gass Feb 13th 2009 3:29PM
it could be a char that eHarmony, bought and renamed
AutumnBringer Feb 13th 2009 3:39PM
All the conspiracy theories are really funny, maybe one of them is even true, but seriously I think the likeliest explanation is that the guy/girl named their character eharmony and thought it would be funny to spam that.
I mean, if you were a business and went through the trouble of buying a WoW account to do some shoddy advertising (which doesn't even include a link of any sort, what advertiser would do that?), would you go through the trouble of queueing up for WSG where you could advertise to 9 other people at most? Or ... would you just sit in a main city and go through Trade chat where you can reach tons of people in one shot? ¯\(o_º)/¯
JDM Feb 14th 2009 1:48AM
This.
But yeah, they could get in serious ban-type troubles if they keep it up, unfortunately. I'm sure it was all just a gag. I can see them getting forced to change their name, since it's copyrighted or whatnot.
Tom Feb 13th 2009 3:11PM
There's a wayyy simpler explanation: someone's just screwing around. Am I really the only person that immediately thought that?
Cy Feb 13th 2009 4:00PM
No, you're not.
Lycanthro Feb 13th 2009 3:14PM
It may just be some guy running a joke. Like hunters with the name Ashketchum saying "I choose you!" every time their pet attacks. They may just say "eHarmony.com!" wherever they go....
Yeah that's a reach. Very weird. Online dating sites, even the legit ones, are very shady. They pay tons of people to be plants and express interest in people and maybe get some hot chat going so they're hooked into the service more, some will even go as far as having a date with you. It doesn't sound farfetched to have a wow player that works with them change their name to eharmony and spam it in bg's when he joins.
Gessilea Feb 13th 2009 5:13PM
My favorite is a longtime player on Terenas US named Bamf, who will periodically emote /! thus creating the message Bamf! I wish someone would do the same with Snikt.
/geekage
cjshrader Feb 13th 2009 3:17PM
There was once a guy named JGWentworth and over trade he said "It's your money. Use it when YOU need it."
I lol'd (Laugh out loud'd).
So yeah I think it's a joke.
Dude Feb 13th 2009 3:19PM
I smell a hacked account.
WooHoo Feb 13th 2009 3:19PM
Yea I have seen a lot of people doing crazy things just to be funny or they think its funny. lol probably because its valentines he typed it or set a macro up for the hell of it to get a response from people. lol That's just my guess.....if it was organized which i highly doubtit was but if it was that would make me not want to play anymore, no one wants to see stupid ads spammed everywhere.
Pope Jamal Feb 13th 2009 3:25PM
Chances are, if this guy/gal is level 80 with fully leveled professions, then that probably means that they are NOT some type of disposable spambot.
If this isn't some sort of spambot, then that probably means it's just a "regular player".
If they are, indeed, a regular player, then how is their spam-yelling about eHarmony any different than them spamming about Chuck Norris, their genitals, or the opposing team's sexual orientation?
News flash: An inside source has informed me that the next wave of in-game advertisements will be from the Procter & Gamble company.
In an effort to target the female demographic within the WoW community, they'll be paying big bucks for people to level fresh toons for their "Tampax" advertising campaign. Word is, they've got nearly 100 spam-bots waiting in the wings, grinding their way to 80. Check the armory if you don't believe me...
Cool! I can make up "news" too!
Avan Feb 13th 2009 3:38PM
Some darn fine reporting. Now to Olliewilliams for the weather!