Here’s The One Time ‘Go to Hell’ Can Be Used to Incite Purchasing Behavior.

ea-dantes-inferno.jpg

For Dante’s Inferno, an Electronic Arts video game, G-Net Los Angeles got into bed with Psyop. The natural result is an ad we suspect might be more lush than the game itself.

We could be wrong, though. Any English major will tell you Dante had a helluva good time describing Hell, and the work he did merits equal dedication from agencies, production firms and game developers alike. Still, this is just one more reason why future generations will be reading fewer books: you think CGI’s had its way with women? It’s bringing literature to its knees.*

Going back to the ad: like we said, it’s gorgeous, but probably could’ve done without the toothy worm things. It’s just too dental-visit-gone-wrong. And while we understand every good Hell scenario needs a bad-ass horned demon master, the one here looks too much like a Balrog.

Once something invites a comparison to LotR, even accidentally, it’s gonna have trouble standing up on its own. Even if it is the bloody Inferno.

* We acknowledge there’s the rare person who goes, “Wow! Adaptation was incredible! I’m gonna go pick up a copy of The Orchid Thief.” But even the most hardcore of book enthusiasts have to admit that books get less play compared to when naughty scrawlings were the only entertainment there was. Besides drunken table-dancing, a genre whose numbers never dwindle.

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Steve Hall

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