LG has created a bespoke Animal Crossing island with the intent of marketing their new line of OLED TVs. Players now have the opportunity to explore a fully developed island that's designed around a very well-known television brand. Exciting stuff!
Reported by Famitsu (via VGC), the new Island allows any Animal Crossing player to visit and explore. Of course, the island also includes a heavy amount of marketing.
“We are the first consumer electronics brand to use this game software for marketing,” LG told Famitsu. “It is a virtual space where people can experience the appeal of our OLED TVs in a more fun way while exploring the islands.”
What is the LG OLED Animal Crossing Island?
Released on Monday, LG's OLED Island is a small virtual playground for Animal Crossing users. Segmented into different themes – Cinema, Gallery, Gaming and Sports – the island includes some activities for players to experience.
Players who visit the island can take part in a treasure hunt, explore a maze, visit a DJ studio and look at a lake that says “OLED". The latter activity also has a picture of an LG OLED TV next to it, just so you don't forget you’re being advertised to.
If you wish to ponder at the OLED pond, you can join the island using this dream code: DA-7677-3136-5978. There's also a second island that players can visit at the dream code: DA-2218-2553-1949.
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Is this breaking the Animal Crossing rules?
Technically, LG isn't breaking the rules for Animal Crossing. In the current Nintendo guidelines for the game, it's stated that businesses are allowed to use the title to market themselves. However, there are strict rules in place that companies must avoid.
For starters, companies cannot state that they are affiliated with Nintendo. Secondly, they cannot direct players to sales pages, gather customer information or require players to sign up for something. Thirdly, there can be no financial benefit from using the game, including advertising revenue.
Other Animal Crossing campaigns have been outright banned. The Democrat Party utilised the video game last year to create an island that asked people to vote for current President Joe Biden. The game's terms of service were quickly updated to stop political campaigns from being conducted with Nintendo's IP.
At the time of writing, Nintendo states that rules are subject to change depending on the players. If enough players are upset at the notion of companies using Animal Crossing for marketing purposes, it could be stopped.
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