Call of Duty: Black Ops series writer and director Dave Anthony addressed U.S. military defense as part of a recent presentation for political think tank The Atlantic Council, claiming that public opinion regarding national security can be manipulated using methods similar to video game marketing.
"When we have a new product that has elements that we're not sure how people will respond to, what do we do as a corporation?" he asked, in reference to Activision's pre-release strategy for Black Ops and Black Ops 2. "We market it, and we market it as much as we can - so that whether people like it or not, we do all the things we can to essentially brainwash people into liking it before it actually comes out. When you have decided to make these changes, you have a marketing campaign to introduce them before it is forced upon you.
"I'd like to see the government doing this too, because the government is becoming more and more unpopular and I have a lot of sympathy for it. It is an enormously tough job they have. I would like to see more effort into how we communicate with the people and educate the people into what we are doing and why."