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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNew in-game battle bots connected to Mountain Dew?
by Adam Holisky 
May 5th 2009 at 12:30PM
Here's where it gets interesting. One bot state is blue, and one bot state is red. These blue and red colors match up pretty darn close to the Mountain Dew product that's on the horizon. Take a look after the break for side-by-side comparisons.
But wait, there's more.
The bots have some known commands already: "Blue Battle Fuel" will "Fill up your Battle-Bot with blue fuel." And "Red Battle Fuel" will "Fill up your Battle-Bot with red fuel." This is interesting phrasing given the Mountain Dew is called "Game Fuel."
Fuel up your body while fueling up your Battle-Bot? The advertising pretty much writes itself.
Now it's entirely possible I'm feeding into some devilish marketing ploy by PepsiCo. If I am, shame on them for marketing something I'm mildly interested in. If not, Pepsi owes myself and Trasken (who tipped us off about this little coincidence) a life time's supply of the stuff.
Thanks Trasken!
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
Candina@WH May 5th 2009 1:55PM
Here is an interesting take on the 'company making more money helps you'.
What if there was an option... WoW for $5.99 a month, but there are billboards (this battle ground brought to you by Pizza Hut load screen?). or the $15/month for no ads?
Would you take the $10 a month cut in subscription price?
Odds are -> Yes.
Now lets change the game.
Wow is $15.99 a month with in game advertising. Would you pay $10 a month MORE to suppress the in-game advertising?
Odds are -> No. You would QQ about the ads and be very dissatisfied because the perceived 'contract' between you and blizz - a game with no ads - had been violated. You would take the $10 cut in subscription rates because then Blizz is effectively 'paying' you to view the adds.
So, I would say that 'no in game advertising' is a good thing. Unless it is there from the beginning no matter how well you do it it will come off as 'greedy'.
Should we expect in-game advertising in some future Blizz-MMO? (World of Starcraft?) Probably. I just hope there is an 'opt out'. :-)
Lycanthro May 5th 2009 1:59PM
The silliness of this whole argument is that Blizzard has never said a THING about in-game advertising and I doubt they will. I guarantee they will have ads in whatever they use for battle.net like they have always had but this Mountain Dew promo is completely out of game.
Though if they put in an opt-in for ads like CoH has I would happily keep in game advertising ON.
Fornozo May 5th 2009 1:55PM
Seems like some good product placing by PepsiCo =D
Me wantz one of those battle bots, but I am unsure if this mountain dew will be available in Sweden =(
We got the regular one in some places but can someone please tell me if I can enjoy this in Sweden ? :)
Nintendwarf May 5th 2009 1:57PM
Idc if it is some marketing ploy, I still think the bots are cool looking.
Also looking froward to the drinks.
(I love me some Mountain Dew)
Shamanface May 5th 2009 2:09PM
When you wrote: "But wait, there's more." I thought of the Starship Troopers, and that made me smile. Rock em Dew bot ftw.
Hoggersbud May 5th 2009 2:10PM
For everybody complaining about the in-game ads and planning to quit over it:
Can I haz ur stuff?
Arizor May 5th 2009 2:29PM
Perhaps just a co-incidence being similar to Mountain Dew?
Garviel May 5th 2009 2:32PM
You'll know for sure the bots are a MD tie in when you activate it the first time and earn the achivement:
"XTREEEMMMEE GAMMERR"
Earned by using the obvious Mountain Dewbot tie in....sucker
Carrie May 5th 2009 2:37PM
Wow, watch the assumptions fly. You guys know what "assume" is made of, right?
That being said, all of you QQers who don't get Mt. Dew in your state/region/country whining that this is unfair... FFS, have you never heard of Ebay?? IF these things are tied to bottle cap codes, you can bet your arse there will be an army of people selling caps on the internet. Calm down. Sheesh.
...and yes, I actually spelled "whining" correctly.
Falcom May 5th 2009 3:00PM
Blizzard is still run by blizzard, activision has no say over what happens. None. What. So. Ever.
Where's the new fail-bot?
ScytheNoire May 5th 2009 5:40PM
Evil plan to sell lots of Mountain Dew.
Giving away items in WoW is brilliant promo.
This is how more companies should learn to market. It's pure brilliance.
Nathanyel May 6th 2009 5:45AM
Many companies have forgotten the mantra "if you're giving free stuff to people, they are gonna like you more" - Blizzard fortunately wasn't one of those companies, see Blizzcon/event goodie bags, endless patches without upping the subscription fee, etc.
xnn May 5th 2009 6:25PM
Eh... the mountain dew might be great, and I will try some if I see it (actually drinking some voltage atm.... ahhh!)
... but honestly, keep this bullshit advertising out of the game. Everywhere I go anymore I have some type of advertisement shoved down my throat.... I sure as hell don't want to see it when I log in.
Tumedeous May 5th 2009 9:10PM
Hm, well, maybe the color of the drinks has something to do with the colors that represent the two in-game factions. And maybe, just maybe, that's the same thought behind the color of the bots.
I mean seriously guys...
rankin May 6th 2009 3:53AM
As Jenny attempted to point out in an earlier post this isn't the first time a soda promo was used in-game. In China 2006 they introduced the iCoke promo pets like this one:
http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow.pets/mammals/bears/poley.asp
I think so many people QQ'd about it then that they would be glad to see an American version of this sort of thing. (which we still don't know that this is)
I did read an article that said the Chinese client includes in-game advertisements for Coke and other products, which is not so cool- but I doubt Blizz will go that far with it in US
Falling May 7th 2009 3:13AM
I would guess that you get a code for a pet on each bottle... and red bottle = red pet blue bottle = blue pet
WoWie Zowie May 12th 2009 8:24AM
/facepalm