A complaint by Jack Thompson has prompted Miami's transit authority to remove ads for Grand Theft Auto IV from local bus shelters.
Miami thus joins Chicago as the second major US city to pull GTA IV ads from its public transit system in recent days.
GamePolitics reported on Thursday that Thompson had complained about the GTA IV ads to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez. The GTA IV ads were apparently removed sometime on Friday afternoon. Hugh Chen, Miami-Dade Transit's deputy director of operations, told GamePolitics on Friday evening, via e-mail:
The posters were removed after a review of our approval process and contract... Be assured that the circumstances around placing and removing these specific posters were reviewed before action was taken. We are governed by our contract with our shelter contractor and County ordinances.
A spokesman for GTA IV publisher Take-Two Interactive said the company was still reviewing the situation. A spokesman for the ESA referred inquiries back to Take-Two.
For his part, Thompson wasted no time in crowing about the removal of the ads in a news release:
...Jack Thompson has today persuaded the Miami-Dade Transit System to pull all advertisements for the Grand Theft Auto IV cop-killing simulation game from its bus stops.
In the wake of this success, Thompson is proceeding to get all GTA IV ads pulled from all US transit systems since such ads clearly violate promises made by the [ESRB], found right at its web site, not to place “Mature-rated” game ads in venues that will be seen by teens.
However, Thompson's contention about the ESRB appears to be incorrect. An ESRB spokesman told GP on Friday, "Considering the overwhelmingly adult demographic profile of mass transit riders... the placement of GTA IV ads in these types of outlets would typically not be in violation of [Ad Review Council] guidelines." Nor do the advertising guidelines listed on the ESRB website appear to support Thompson's contention.
Thompson may be confusing the ESRB ad guidelines with a 2002 report on the marketing of media violence by the Federal Trade Commission which addressed limiting the advertising of M-rated games in media where children constitute a specific percentage of the potential audience. The FTC report notes that the video game industry has a self-regulatory standard prohibiting print ads when children comprise more than 45% of the likely audience.
In his news release, the embattled Thompson also alleged a conspiracy between the video game industry and the judge who presided over his nine-day trial on Florida Bar ethics charges last November. That judge's recommendation on Thompson's future status as an attorney is expected in August.
GP: Readers, don't forget to Send Us Your GTA IV Bus Pix (Before they’re all gone)...
Comments
I guess if he tried to expand his focus, his efforts on stopping violent games will thin out from being ineffective to worse.
thing is he does not give a shit.
this is about rockstar and it always has been.
its his vendetta.
It's like claiming a victory against someone who beats the crap out of you, but breaks a nail doing it.
I hope it will be a good irony one.
We'll see what happens then. All I can say is, the more angry we get at Jack, the more fuel we add to his fire.
I mean, I love Monolith, they're a great dev. team, and the F.E.A.R. series has thus far been superb. It's also been more bloody and violent than anything I've ever seen/played in any GTA game. Monolith is working with Warner Brother Games now, so why doesn't Jack go after Monolith? He could attack the movie industry AND the gaming industry at the same time!
Again, I love Monolith, and I can't wait until Project Origin comes out :)
My point is that GTA IV isn't the worst game out there.
And then there is the main reason Jack focuses on Take-Two's Rockstar, it is the only company that has made as much noise and gathered such attention from the media.
I mean no one has said a thing about Gods Of War, nor much about the lackluster Postal series anymore.
There hasn't even been much attention made to those games he has attacked, like Mortal Kombat's Create a Kombatian(I think it was?) character creator allowing people to make characters in whatever likeness they want, some flash games, Halo 3, and probably a few other recent "not Rockstar" title related objections I can't recall off hand.
I couldn't even trigger any other examples, but browsing GP's previous stories, I find the following claim that T2 was in trouble over Bioshock:
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/08/19/jack-thompson-shocked-by-bioshock/
Big trouble is on the way for Take-Two
Hmm, I think we have heard that one countless times before.... Especially the WRESTLING bit.
The only "main stream" thing he has managed to say something besides their GTA/Manhunt/etc games, was about "Valve's" Counter Strike. Yet even that isn't getting him much main-stream attention these days, almost like the media realized the games were not really the "sims" others made them out to be... Then again, these days people are more interested in the "cartoony" TF2.
You have just given Rockstar the biggest amount of advertising money just can' buy.
You Dickhead.
This post is a reference to Zelda 3. IF you don't understand it, play the game.
T.O.S. KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!
Shadow: KNOCK IT OFF!!!
Found the comment itself, but for some reason I can't post links:
http ://gamepolitics .com/2007/08/15/dr-phil-invited-me-says-jack-thompson/#comment-144717
Did you do something, Dennis?
1) Ads on buses; or
2) Endless reporting in all media outlets as to why said ads were removed from busses.
Even when GTA 'loses' they win. Win all the way to the bank.
Genious.
He'll file a harassment suit against that someone. Sadly, if he did, I'd have to take his side. I pray it never happens.
Gives me an idea. When he's disbarred, send him an e-mail saying only two words. Two words that gamers everywhere have always despised seeing.
G A M E
O V E R
"You get NOTHING. You LOSE. GOOD DAY SIR."
Give me his e-mail address and I'll do it. That would be funny as hell
I'll add this too: Considering that selling Mature games to minors is NOT illegal, this is a pretty moot point to make. The video games industry takes it upon itself not to sell M games to minors - it's in no way illegal, so they have every right to do it.
EDIT: @DavCube
Input that as well as Grandpa Joe's response, the "you're a monster" one. Those two lines are why I never have and never will like that movie. Regardless, directed at JT, those work very well.
EDIT2: OMFG 2 strokes of inspiration in a row! PLEASE FORGIVE THE MULTI-POSTS, DENNIS!!!
@DavCube
Dude! Also have the Grinch song, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!" because that would be neat! Plaster JT's face over top of Jim Carrey's Grinch-Make-Up Face! Someone make a YouTube video of that!
Re:
I have to sme the same thing. Congratulations to him. I am sure that this is what he has been waiting for since he first started this whole work. And I would also like to add a little piece of advice. I think he could ever make things even better by accepting the help of payroll services.