Winning on the Web, Obama Turns to Xbox Advertising

Barack Obama’s campaign has been lauded for its online efforts, but in the race to make high-speed connections with voters, the Democrat has taken another “new media” leap, placing a campaign billboard inside an Xbox 360 online racing game. While politicians have promoted themselves online before, this is hands-down the most prominent use of the medium, Wagner James Au writes on GigaOM.

“I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout Paradise,” a spokeswoman for Electronic Arts, the game’s maker, said. “Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates.” There’s no word on whether John McCain's campaign has contacted EA about advertising in its popular Medal of Honor series. (More Election 2008 stories.)