Seventeen Magazine is on some kind of Elf Quest to find (or just mold?) the perfect editor in the earliest possible stages of life. Toward that goal, Hearst and Arkadium have launched Editor’s Assistant, an advergame that the fine folk of PR call an opportunity to step into the shoes of the magazine world’s “unsung hero” – assistant to the editor-in-chief.
The game is comprised of bitchwork, which include managing schedules, booking shoots, hiring stylists, answering an ever-ringing phone, checking email, and watching the editor-in-chief’s happiness meter. The object is to not be fired in a week, and maybe – just maybe – you’ll win a cool treat, like a trip to Fashion Week.
We played for a couple of minutes and grew aggravated with the ringing phone and bored with staring at the virtual desk. The whole thing was a lot of fun until we had to do actual work. Then it was like, dude, this is a game, not our lives. After that happy conclusion, we said “fuck you” to the hope of our earnest little avatar hitting Fashion Week. She must be bummed – but that’s okay, she was anorexic anyway.
