BoardGameGeek Ad Rejection Possesses the Internet & Gets AM Fired

A controversy over a board game advert application, and the reasons given for its refusal, have led to BoardGameGeek firing their Advertising Manager.

The issue came to light when a post on Reddit appeared between Falling Whale Games and Boardgamegeeks Advertising Manager. The Manager’s name was originally removed in the initial posts but has been confirmed as Chad Krizan, who has subsequently been relieved of his activities.

Falling Whale Games had submitted an advert campaign to BGG on 7th May for an upcoming crowdfunding project they will be running. They received what sems to have been an auto-reply thanking them for submitting it and informing them they’d receive a confirmation mail once the advert has been approved. Having not heard anything by the 15th May the team at Falling Whale wrote a follow-up email requesting an update, wondering about the delay as their previous advertising campaign on the site had been approved within 24 hours, so over a week’s delay was unusual.

The reply they got was, it is safe to say, not one they were expecting:

Thanks for the follow-up!

To be completely transparent, I’ve been sitting on this one and praying about what to do in this instance. As a follower of Jesus, I routinely help people suffering from demonic oppression, and more occasionally, possession, and it’s absolutely devastating the damage he does to peoples’ lives. It’s sometimes beyond what would even dare be depicted in a horror film. The amazing thing is that I get to see Jesus completely heal folks for even the most severe effects (we’ve walked with one lady who was diagnosed with 32 distinct personalities as a result of horrific occultic abuse, and she eventually was one whole, complete individual, healed by Jesus, with no fragments or need of all her psychological meds), but it doesn’t change the terrible reality behind the theme that this game is depicting.

So, I just can’t in good conscience approve this one; given what I’ve seen firsthand, the thought of displaying this subject matter makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t begrudge you personally, as many people just plain don’t understand the reality of it, but I’d strongly urge you to consider these things. IMO, the responsible thing to do would be to pull the entire project, as there are way more people that suffer this than you could possibly imagine, putting on a good face (usually enabled by dissociation), but suffering terribly behind the scenes.

I know this response was more than you bargained for, but I wanted to be 100% honest about where I’m coming from, rather than just ignoring the request. Even though you may not be on the same page, I appreciate your understanding.

Falling Whale followed up enquiring whether this was site policy or a personal decision, asking if there were any advertising rules they were breaking with the submitted campaign. They also pointed out that another game, called All True Believers, currently had an advert running and that game also had occult themes. They received the following reply from the Advertising Manager:

Keep in mind it’s not over religion, but reality. It’s the same reason I would say a game would be in very poor taste if it featured being a sexual predator, or soemthing that would directly trigger someone that’s been harmed by the subject matter. It’s about keeping BGG welcoming to everyone, and since I’m privby to this subject matter, I know firsthand that this is not friendly content, and incredibly triggering, put in front of some of the population that visits BGG.

Simniliar to site moderation, there are of course judgement calls to be made when it comes to displaying ads on the site. If it were just my personalpreference, “All True Believers” wouldn’t be approved either, but I have to factor in if something being displayed is going to be overtly triggering. In that game, it’s a bit less obvious from the title, whereas you went for the shock value. Of course, that’s a buisness decision on your part, but it also means it’s not responsible of me to put it in front of a diverse community of gamers.

The game in question is a social deduction game called Possess Me, Satan which is currently live, and funded, on Gamefound. The game, for 5-16 players aged 16+, is themed around a group of friends going on a ghost hunt when one of them becomes possessed by a spirit of a murderous ghost. Each player has a hidden role, and they have to try and figure out who has been possessed… but some people may be helping the ghost.

After posting the correspondence on Reddit the backlash started in force, with many criticising the Advertising Manager, calling his response unprofessional, and threatening to boycott BoardGameGeek. Some other game designers also came out with critical responses to the situation, calling on BGG to clarify matters and respond to the situation.

Scott Alden, the CEO and Founder of BoardGameGeek then formally issued an update on the situation stating:

Due to a situation in which BGG’s Advertising Manager responded inappropriately in a business email to a designer, I have decided to let him go. His response does not reflect or represent our company or the way we conduct business.

The Possess Me, Satan campaign is currently running on Gamefound until 20th June.

Images courtesy of Reddit and Falling Whale Games