A black t-shirt with the text "I Like it Cheap and Unprotected" in orange and green block lettering.
In case you aren’t familiar, Good Old Games (GOG) is a website that makes classic PC games available free of DRM. GOG is currently having a holiday sale. GOG is looking to promote their site and their sale by giving away 20 limited-edition t-shirts.
Naturally, the very best, smartest slogan to put on said t-shirt is, “I like it cheap and unprotected”.
I’m growing impatient for the day to arrive when marketing a site aimed at a general gamer audience will no longer default to marketing exclusively to over-sexed, under-touched men. Because that’s what they’re saying about you, gentlemen — that you correlate your personal sex life with video games, and that you do it so strongly, the two deserve the same terminology.
The “unprotected” in particular is a broad reference to condom use — it is not common vernacular to say, “use protection” in reference to oral contraceptives, or even (sadly) in reference to dental dams. “Unprotected” sex generally means sex without a condom, condoms are generally put onto penises, and those with penises generally identify as men.
And that is where this “clever” promotional tool completely breaks down for me, because it is literally wrong. Games free of DRM aren’t “unprotected”, because DRM isn’t “protection”. And you know that, I know that, everyone who spends any time or money on GOG.com knows that. Condoms are tools that allow those who use them to exert control over their own bodies and safety. They give users choice. DRM is *literally the opposite kind of tool*, in that it removes the user’s choice over how to interact with their own property. There is no witty analogy to be made between the two, and I can’t imagine anyone who’s negotiated safe sex with a partner wouldn’t pick up on that.
GOG, please stop underestimating the size, diversity, and intelligence of your audience. I’m not the only person who’s noticed that your shirt is problematic at best; Godless Heathen has written a great post unpacking some of the ways this shirt is triggering and/or offensive for various members of the gaming community. I realize that some of the members of the GOG community like the shirt — they’re being very vocal about it in the comments of the post announcing the shirt. But I also love the classic PC games you offer, and I hate DRM, and based on your business model that makes me a member of your community, too. And so this is me letting you know, in a forum that provides just a *little* bit more safety and respect for dissenting opinions than the average comment thread, that I think your shirt is poorly thought out and not even saying whatever cute thing you’re trying to say about gaming and sex. I think you can do better, and I think the time to start doing better is right now.
If you’d like to let GOG know that you’ve got a problem with their marketing tools and message, I’d encourage you to contact them directly here, rather than attempting to engage in the comments.
Let’s not forget that GOG was purchased by the outfit that develops and publishes the Witcher titles– fantasy RPGs whose main claims to fame are sex scenes and pornographic photos of your character’s partners.
While I’m dragging us down Memory Lane, GOG is also the outfit that announced it was closing shop and shut their storefront, download center, and forums down as a publicity stunt that went from ‘terrible’ to ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ as soon as someone let slip that CDProjekt was buying them up.
One of the free games offered to testers was– I’m not making this up– Lure of the Temptress.
These guys wouldn’t know ‘inclusive’ or ‘respectful’ if their lives depended on it.
@ Jayle Enn: I totally disagree. The people at GoG have been very reasonable in my opinion and have listened to input in the past.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/09/13/the-witcher-2-covers-up/
That article details a really positive response to criticism of a topless woman in Witcher 2.
GOG.com is usually not exclusionary, and truth be told, I don’t find this T-shirt too bad. Tasteless, sure, but speaking for myself personally, it’s not worth anymore more than an eye roll. That said, the people who run GoG.com have demonstratably, in the recent past, listened to criticism that they have received. Rather than just dragging their name through the mud, I’d encourage everybody who takes issue with this shirt to write in about it.
Also – and I apologize for the double comment – What’s wrong with them choosing Lure of the Temptress? AFAIK it’s a sword-and-sorcery type game and it was probably picked as a beta game because it’s technically freeware. I haven’t played it, so I can’t tell you what the issues are with it (and I’m sure there are issues) beyond the title, but I don’t see a problem with GoG.com offering it.
“over-sexed, under-touched men”
This says so much. Well done.
“Condoms are tools that allow those who use them to exert control over their own bodies and safety. They give users choice. DRM is *literally the opposite kind of tool*”
And this! I was sitting here thinking the “too sensitive” thing until I read this paragraph and it clicked and it actually changed my mind. Again, well. Done.
I prefer to remember the Good Old Games as it used to be; not the abomination it has become.
Something was bothering me about this other than the tired innuendo, but I couldn’t put a finger on it until reading your analysis. So thanks for this post!
“Games free of DRM aren’t “unprotected”, because DRM isn’t “protection”.”
But who is responsible for this kind of connection that states all over the place that DRM is “protection” ? Not GOG imo.
You know, I’m fine with puerile sex jokes, I really am. I don’t really blame the people on the site who liked the innuendo of the shirt, because if the shirt had been phrased in some other way, I might be one of them.
What I don’t like are when the jokes are made at the expense of an individual or class of people. I don’t know about any other countries, but American popular culture is filled with narratives that undermine condom use and normalize unprotected sex. Women don’t have enough social capitol to negotiate for consistent condom use from their partners. If GOG wanted to use sex to sell their promotion, there were ways they could have done that without adding to the dominant narrative that ultimately undermines women’s sexual health and well being. (Don’t even get me started on the implicit slut shaming of the word “cheap”!)
I didn’t know GOG was behind the Witcher franchise. I’m not all that bothered by it because the games were pretty thoroughly panned by critics. In order for the games to do any real cultural damage, someone has to want to play them first. Maybe if the developers put half as much effort into game design as they do into making the game naughty the franchise might one day be worthy of criticism, right now it’s just pathetic.
The T-shirt is horrible and stupid, but I can’t help sticking my oar in for Lure of the Temptress – the title was kind of a joke, it’s actually a lovely, perfectly respectable oldschool adventure game.
I have mixed feelings about gog.com because a year or so back, I complained to them about their profile gender choices, which were, IMO and at the time (not sure what’s there now), stupid and offensive. I asked for more, better, female and gender-neutral options. In their defense, they listened to me, and added 2 new options: “Male”/”Female”. However, that wasn’t what I asked for, as using those adjectives as nouns to refer to humans in normal social situations annoys the heck outta me. “I am a female” is not what I really wanted my profile to say. They ignored my suggestions (woman/man/guy/gal/android/electric sheep/person).
SO. anyway. yes. My overall impression is that they’re a bunch of very immature and irritating twentysomething dudes (remember the mock-closure? Ha ha.), but they do have some nice games. What to do, what to do? I like having the non-drm installer to save for future use, but then again, I can’t remember Steam ever insulting my intelligence.
@Godless Heathen
You’re turning proper condom use into a feminist issue when it simply isn’t.
Women aren’t the only ones condoms are designed to protect. The shirt undermines men’s sexual health and well being just as much as women’s and therefore the shirt can’t possibly be made at the expense of women as a class of people. You seem to be the only one constructing a ‘dominant narrative’ by extrapolating a self-serving victim-versus-aggressor scenario from essentially nothing.
Speaking of which, there are plenty of women out there who shun condom use and have the social capitol to negotiate its NON-use. Ignoring that fact is playing straight into the hands of all sorts of societal gender roles and strikes me as patriarchal and paternalistic.
You’re also fairly misinformed. While The Witcher was rightfully panned for its sexist content, it was generally considered a good enough game design-wise to garner high review scores and several “RPG of the Year” awards. If you’re going to complain by all means do it, but do some reasearch first.
@Diel
If you can’t see how condom use can be a feminist issue then maybe you should also “do some research first”, as you suggest.
I would add that men who have sex with men are also a high risk group, and barebacking is a similar issue for HIV/AIDS spread all over the world.
Diel, “good enough game design-wise to garner high review scores and several “RPG of the Year” awards” is fairly worthless if the first part of your comment is taken into consideration. Birth of A Nation was critically acclaimed (by the then-current US President, no less), same with Triumph of the Will. History is littered with “great” works that have directly contributed to oppression, and the jump for the Witcher from popular RPG to tool of oppression is not far at all. And yes, I did just say The Witcher’s literal objectification of women is similar to the racism found in Birth of A Nation and anti-semitism of Triumph of the Will.
@Alex H
“I’m not all that bothered by it because the games were pretty thoroughly panned by critics. In order for the games to do any real cultural damage, someone has to want to play them first. Maybe if the developers put half as much effort into game design as they do into making the game naughty the franchise might one day be worthy of criticism, right now it’s just pathetic.”
If you can seriously say that Birth of a Nation
a) Had no effort put into it
b) Is unworthy of criticism
c) Did no cultural damage because “nobody wanted to [watch it]”
Then I don’t know what to say.
Furthermore, like it or not Birth of a Nation was and continues to be a milestone in American (and global) filmmaking despite its messages. A change in present ideaology doesn’t necessitate the erasure of the past’s.
@Kimadactyl
Condom use is a feminist issue in as much as its an issue for every sexually active human being in the world and there’s an overlap in the Venn diagram between “feminist” and “sexually active human being”
Does that entitle a feminist to proclaim exclusive rights to the issue, as Godless Heathen is attempting? She said it clear as day:
“What I don’t like are when the jokes are made at the expense of an individual or class of people.”
ie
Tacky joke about unprotected sex —> Joke is at the expense of women specifically.
It’s a logical leap that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny unless you assume specific gender roles.
I will also throw the following out there:
The Witcher’s objectification and overuse of sexual conquest as a reward for services rendered are precisely the same as those found in the Mass Effect series. The only difference is that The Witcher made for an easier scapegoat to swallow, being from a slightly less “presitigious” (read: rich; popular) developer than Bioware.
Oh, and another major difference: it appears that the Witcher devs are actually trying to address and change sexist content in future releases while Bioware is likely to keep on using sex as a reward in Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, etc. etc. etc.
While I am not attempting to absolve CD Projekt of their crimes, I’m just going to state that singling them out as a specifically ‘sexist’ developer is undeserved. They are simply a drop in the ocean.
I wrote into GOG about the issue. Frankly finding they were the ones behind Witcher, they lost my business forever.
Frankly a better sexual slogan I thought of was “I like it old and classy” While there are some issues with THAT one too, older games had no DRM and many people have said they they tended to have better gameplay. Also, that phrase can be applied to both men and women, while the first one only seems to cater to men.
@Diel Sexist developer is sexist; end;
Lure of the Temptress -is- a decent adventure game, and is particularly interesting for its ‘Virtual Theatre’ programming. It also has the most embarrassing title in the industry, short of ‘Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess’, which I suspect was why it was distributed as a freebie. I should have elucidated that before, and I’m sorry for the confusion.
The Witcher’s gameplay is irrelevant. There are women in the game that you are rewarded for having sex with. The ‘erotic’ pocket cameos they reward you with are duplicated in the collector’s edition art book. The action of shipping the game in that state, combined with the action of selling a shirt with that slogan are clear evidence of sexism. Claims that they have changed their ways are nothing more than empty air, until such time as physical proof materializes.
Honestly, I suspect that this is a stupid, low-level troll like the faked shutdown kerfuffle.
For what it’s worth, the reason that Lure of the Temptress is available for free is that the developer Revolution Software made a deal with the developers of ScummVM: they’d release both of their older and less marketable games, Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky, as freeware if the ScummVM developers made the newer Broken Sword series playable on modern PCs again. I believe they didn’t have the resources to do it themselves at the time. There’s no restriction on redistributing them so long as you don’t charge a fee for it, so they were an obvious choice for gog.com to include.
@Kateri: The gender options on gog.com as of right now are as follows:
Guy
Dude
Gentlemen
Chap
Brudda
Bad Bwoi
Lady
Girl
Hawtie
Chixxor
Grrl
Missy
Female
Dawta
Male
Funky Monkey
Jedi
Ninja
Pirate
Xippie
I guess they took your suggestion after all.
@Diel: Agreed!
@Jayle Enn: How is what I linked not tangible proof of a change, or at least the right foot forward?
Geez, I’d hate to see the reaction to the title “Leather Goddesses of Phobos”
Because about all what you linked to said is that they don’t want to make the scenes of women being tortured sexy. The fact that there are scenes of women being tortured at all is… not promising.
And also it doesn’t actually address the complaints we’ve made?
And condom use: Oh right, of course it’s not a feminist issue specifically, because (cis) men can also get pregnant; and of course “cheap” isn’t a reference to (female) prostitution and all sexual interactions involve penises to be protected. >.>
Okay, being serious again; yes, not using a condom can negatively affect people with penises as well as those without (whether they are men or otherwise); but the typical narratives regarding condom use are mostly hurting women (who are most often the ones with vaginas) because of pregnancy. It’s a question of being allowed to control your body when you can get pregnant.
And not all sex even involves penises, so that’s all getting erased right there. And there’s “cheap” on that shirt, and that’s pretty hard to interpret in any way that isn’t slut-shamming. So yeah.
What I linked to illustrated that they responded to criticism regardless of crying fanboys and did the right thing. The fact that there are scenes of women being tortured is… not problematic at all, considering that the setting of the scene in question is “a dungeon in which people are being tortured,” and it follows that some of those people would be women.
Contraception, broadly speaking, is a feminist issue. However, contraception and STD-prevention is an everybody issue. The person with the analogy about the Venn diagram up thread was right on the money.
And in any case, I don’t have a problem with the shirt. I’d probably think a person wearing it was kind of puerile, but I don’t see it as any worse than something like “Rogues do it from behind.” As far as I’m concerned:
A) GOG is not the one who has likened DRM to protection in broader gamer culture, and I don’t fault them for picking up on and using that messaging for eyerolling shirt designs;
B) The shirt’s slogan, however eyerolling, is not at anybody’s expensive and it isn’t actually propagating anything negative, unless you consider mention the same thing as advocacy;
C) The only legitimate complaint to be made here is that sex puns are old and make all of us look kind of juvenile.
Diel, I’m an abrasive person. I tried several times to come up with a comment for you and I realized that my “tone” is always going to be at least half snarky. I try not to engage people dismissively because I don’t like it when people do the same to me. I will say, I have lived experience as a woman negotiating for consistent condom use from my male partners. I have had experience talking to sex workers (some of whom are male, some trans) who have trouble negotiating for consistent condom use from men. I don’t doubt that some men have had problems negotiating for consistent condom use, but I don’t have lived experience as a male. I didn’t feel that I could speak for men. If there really is a widespread problem of men not having the social capitol to safely negotiate for consistent condom use, then I should seek out those narratives.
As to my dismissing The Witcher, perhaps I shouldn’t have. No one in my social circle plays it, most of the gamers outside of that circle that I’ve met despise it for the content. Maybe I just assumed that it had crawled into a corner and died. (If you’re thinking my friends wouldn’t admit to playing a game with porn elements, we frequently discuss their porn consumption habits, so I would find that odd.)
The timing here is extremely unfortunate, to say the least. Assange describes women who demand condom use as part-and-parcel of sex as being “In a tizzy” and for Miss W is accused of, after finally giving up on it the night before decided to initiate sex without a condom while completely unconscious, finishing the act while overpowering her. One of the members of the GOG community made this connection pretty easily, it would seem responsible for them to explain that this was not done in solidarity with Assange.
In heterosexual relationships male privilege is often leveraged to eliminate the woman’s ability to negotiate condom use. As msheathen indicated, this is often the case when one partner has less power because of economic factors.
Apart from these issues, as the father of a 6 year old who will soon be old enough to discover the joys of PC Gaming, I will have a hard enough time worrying about the content and messaging of games, then to add the messaging of distributors on top of that?
The message that Condoms aren’t cool is quite frankly, aligned with the Men’s Right Movement if anything else. Cis men still have much greater privilege in society and are thus usually in a much stronger bargaining position when it comes to condom use. Add that to the fact that men are less likely to contract STDs and you are spreading what is not only eye-rolling but extremely stupid and irresponsible message.
@Diel
Consider this a comment warning. Coming in and stating that you don’t feel that something is a feminist issue is against what this site is all about. You are not one to decide what is and is not a feminist issue. You should not be belittling the experiences of others to prove your point.
Condom use is most definitely an issue that feminists struggle with. Having to convince their partners to use one, having the burden so often lie with the woman to insist upon the use of one, and of course the awful experience of being raped without the use of one. Sex being “cheap and unprotected” is not a statement that panders to a female audience, it is clearly marketed to men. And as a feminist – I personally have an issue with promoting ‘cheap’ and ‘unprotected’ sex (especially in reference to buying old games, which has zero relevance whatsoever).
Please see the following Derailing for Dummies tactic:
But that Happens to Me too!”
Also, when we call out one developer for being sexist – that doesn’t not necessarily mean they’re more sexist than others. Unfortunately, sexism is the norm in gaming therefore we cannot possibly cover all the developers and games that are doing things right. We do try to mix the good in with the band. I do think it’s important to note that while we’re calling out one developer here, in many many others posts on this site we have called out other devs.
Please be respectful and read through our comment policy before continuing to comment on posts. Thank you!
Simply put: I find the shirt (and the message it sends) really terrible and tacky for everyone — gamers, women, GoG, etc — all around.