Dudes, boobs, and GameCubes: Video game advertising enters adolescence

Abstract

When a product is marketed according to gender, it is often positioned as a way for consumers to enact that gender. In the following pages, we trace how video game advertising “grew up,” transitioning from a broader focus on family entertainment into a more specific focus on selling toys to young boys and finally evolving into what we call “lad ads,” or advertisements designed to appeal specifically to straight male adolescents by playing on expectations of masculine heteronormativity. The legacy of these lad ads has contributed significantly toward solidifying the connection between video games and masculinity.