GTA Ads Spark Months of Controversy in Boston

Last week, politically-oriented industry blog Game Politics began covering controversy in Boston over advertisements for Rockstar Vancouver's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP) displayed on local subway trains. Nearly 60 community leaders, including the mayors of Boston and Cambridge, demanded that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rescind the advertising agreement, claiming that the ads were helping exacerbate increases in youth violence in the area. Apparently, the ads themselves were fairly innocuous, and the controversy stemmed more from the product being advertised rather than any violence-inciting images in the ads themselves; accordingly, the MBTA responded that content standards for ads could be applied only to the ads themselves, not the related product. Soon after, Boston police joined in, claiming that games such as Grand Theft Auto "[condone] murdering police officers" and "threaten and risk the lives of police officers." Miami attorney Jack Thompson suggested that by running the ads, the MBTA was "participating in a criminal conspiracy." Many of the stories on the topic were sure to mention the oft-cited gameplay possibility of murdering prostitutes after making use of their services. The Boston Herald even asked some prostitutes about the controversy, with one supporting the demands to remove the ads and one responding that she herself enjoys killing prostitutes (and "everybody") in the game. When the MBTA refused to take down the ads, Boston mayor Thomas Menino accused the organization of "hiding behind the First amendment." The back-and-forth continued, with MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas responding to Menino and other officials, conveying an exasperated tone. Grabauskas stated that he has no reason to believe video games are the primary cause of reported increases in violence. "Your methods will certainly continue the cynicism of our citizenry about us all that serve the public," he wrote. "I expect that you will now be about the business of taking on the other challenges causing violence in our City and in our Commonwealth with equal zeal." This week, Game Politics reported on a press release from Boston Common Asset Management dating back to February of this year, requesting that a then-curent MBTA advertising campaign for the GTA franchise not be renewed after its expiration. A similar situation has also arisen in Oregon, where GTA ads have been pulled by local transit authority TriMet. As far as the Boston case goes, the ads will not be pulled prematurely, but according to the full text of Grabauskas' letter, reprinted by Game Politics courtesy of Jack Thompson, the MBTA is revising its guidelines to prohibit future advertising of Mature- or Adults Only-rated games, though the decision was clearly reached very reluctantly. Said Grabauskas in his statement, "I urge you not to be too smug with the result. There is no victory where there was never a battle."