p2pnet - rss feed: Neopets. Again.
p2pnet.net News:- "Michelle Stiebel was shocked when she found her nine-year-old son Harley gambling his heart out in a bid to keep his virtual pet alive."
The crittur in question was a Neopet, used by the likes of McDonald’s as a marketing gimmick, and the quote comes in an Australian Seven Network Today Tonight broadcast which goes on:
"McDonalds’ latest Happy Meal promotion is based on a collection of cute fluffy toys called Neopets and their make-believe world on the Internet. Last night, we revealed how - on the Neopets website - kids of all ages are being given a step-by-step guide to games like poker, roulette and blackjack."
The idea is to keep the Neopet fed and healthy and, "If you don’t gamble, or worse, lose on the punt, your Neopet starves or is sent off to an orphanage," says the report
That’s when Michell and Harley came into the picture.
McD’s - increasingly sensitive to public pressure following the SuperSize Me movie - yanked the promo and that, in turn, upset Neopet lovers.
We had much the same experience when we ran a story on the Neopet and its raison d’etre - hard-core online embedded (immersive) advertising as it’s affecting US schools.
"I am a parent, and I LOVE NEOPETS," posted one irate mother. "Who cares if he sees the McDonalds restaurant ad wants to go."
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See:-
cute fluffy toys - Neopet players fight McDonalds ban, Seven Network, October 13, 2004
increasingly sensitive - Sony and MacDonald’s, p2pnet, June 8, 2004
Who cares - Neopets reloaded, p2pnet, September 23, 2004
October 17th, 2004 at 4:25 am
Once you’ve make someone used to something you control
and can take away at any time you can start exploiting the addicts.
Keeping neopets alive and well for example.
Soon, they’ll be ready to pay to keep them alive…
Hopefully those hooked on neopets will move on to other sites,
or better yet, take control over their virtual pets
by making them come alive themselves.
October 17th, 2004 at 8:19 pm
This child is LYING. I am 23 years old and have been playing since I was 18. The “gambling” is with fake points that you can buy things in the neopet world with. You dont HAVE TO “gamble”. You can play hundreds of other normal games or sell things in your shop (with play money of course). These people are WAY out of line and I am very disappointed. People believing a child, making a report, and accusing a site of something like this is slanderous and unfactual. Get your crap straight before you make an accusation like this.
October 17th, 2004 at 8:20 pm
Personally I like to play the games after a long day of work, nothing obsessive about it . And it will never become a pay-to-play site, if you did a little research you would know this, as well as why.
October 23rd, 2004 at 3:23 am
I am mom of two children…one is 16 and the other is 7…i see nothing wrong with playing on neopets…if a certain person does’nt want their child playing on it then treat it as a usual thing and keep it in your own home do not try and jepodise others who love to play it…grrrrr
me and my children play on neopets and my daughter gets all her work done and more before she goes on the site…she has also learnt a lot with the stocks on the site and gained qualifications through this
my son is slightly autistic and he benifits from motor skills on the computer as any child would allowed on in moderation
he improves himself with the games.Neopets is helping him to re-learn things like numbers and reading…he lost a lot of faith in learning after the death of his father…but with sites like neopets he is learning again…it acts as part of his learning process.
Neopets is not all about gambling…ggrrrr there is a wide chioce of games and children see just that; games…i mean what about some tv programmes most likely give more of a view towards gambling than neopets do…i mean this woman wants to open her eyes for crying out loud. Neopets has benifitted both my children in educational needs!
November 12th, 2004 at 12:24 am
I agree. Now, this idiotic kid caused EVERYONE with a 12 and under account to not be able to play gambling games. Anyways, Gambling Game Petition: neopets.com/~iceclimberlupe
January 12th, 2006 at 12:06 am
You dont know what your talking about. Everything you said is a LIE. If your neopet is hungry, it just stays hungry until you feed it. Thats it. No death. No orphanages. No starving. Its not gambling. Its bidding. You made it sound much worse than it is. You can never get your account or your neopets taken away unless you break the rules. I dont know where you got those lies you posted, but they are nothing but lies. Neopets prohibits the use of dirty and vulgar language, sexual, religous, and racial content, obscene pictures, gangs, violence, and gambling. I love neopets and so do all my friends. For us, its a fun place to hang out and play games. Not some some bar or casino. The neopets staff makes sure neopets is a fun, safe, and friendly place for kids to go. Nothing else. I am 13 years old and i love neopets. And i am not a coward.
January 12th, 2006 at 12:08 am
AMEN!