We ask: Is the new Halo 3: ODST commercial in bad taste?

Here at Kung Fu Drafter we are big fans of trailers and commercials. To our long time readers that will not come as any great surprise. We think that commercials are some of the best things on television today. In fact some commercials are so well done they are extremely evocative, creating connections between the viewer and the subject similar to those in full-length movies. Lately we have begun to wonder whether that is a good thing or not. Can an ad campaign connect with a viewer provoking thoughts and emotions in such a way that the commercial crosses the lines of good taste?

We have been pondering this very matter at the Kung Fu Dojo for about a month now. While we are huge supporters of free speech, and creative endeavors in general, we are still believe that there can be socially acceptable limits. We also think that being aware of those socially acceptable limits is not tantamount to censorship, it’s just polite. So when a commercial depicts a military funeral on primetime television (cable) we begin to wonder “Is this in bad taste?”

The commercial we are referring to is adapted from the short film created by director Scott Duchon for Microsoft’s “We Are ODST” campaign. Promoting the recently released Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) video game, this short film is less than three minutes long and follows the service career of Tarkov (an ODST). The film opens with a military funeral presumably for a relative or friend of Tarkov. The setting is complete with military dress uniforms (fictional) and a 21 gun salute. This is the impetus for Tarkov’s military career. We then see ODST candidates, first in training and later in scenes of battle. Finally the short film ends with a field burial of a fallen soldier. All of which is followed by the “We are ODST” branding and then the Xbox logo.

When we first saw this commercial, we were of course excited about the game. Then we remembered we do not own an Xbox 360 and have no plans of buying one. It was only after viewing the commercial several times that we began to wonder if this imagery was offensive or not. (As a disclaimer, we were not offended.)

Halo 3: ODST exclusively forthe Xbox 360 ...

On one hand there is the simple fact that this is a commercial for a video game, a first person shooter at that. This is a game genre where a player navigates the game environment, encounters enemies, and dispatches them with any number of firearms all from the first person perspective. Anyone who has played any game from the Halo franchise knows that that there is no shortage of video game violence to be had. So would it be fair to expect any ad campaign to be sanitized of the nature of the product? Should the game be advertised in a pacifist manner only? The answer to that is “absolutely not”. Any product should be able to advertise to gain a fair market share. Still we wondered, does the “We are ODST” commercial cross into bad taste?

As an island standing alone in the world the commercial is fine, excellent by any production standard. However, nothing exists in a void. Any and all media and content must be placed in its contemporary context. The contemporary context of the “We are ODST” campaign is one where the local news reports the death of American soldiers serving abroad almost every day and military funerals are very real things. Even for viewers who are not personally invested in any military activity, but have a strong sense of patriotism, these images could have a strong impact. In that context there can be no doubt that some individuals viewing this content have very real connections to similar situations.

Is there some validity to our question? Is this material offensive to the majority of the American population who view it? This question is possibly more complex than our post initially indicated. In our next post we will look more closely at the film and hypothesize a bit about its intentions. If you have agree with us or think we are off base leave us a comment below. As always we love to hear from our readers, especially when we are just not sure about something …

 - KFD -