Strange as it sounds, the idea of a video game character tackling serious real-world issues like substance abuse is not without precedent. What’s even more surprising is that, more often than not, such teachings have come from the mouths of otherwise squeaky-clean, family-friendly protagonists. Just check out Sonic the Hedgehog swiping a spliff from the mouth of his good (child) buddy Tails in his 90s cartoon, or, on another side of the PSA coin, the Mario Bros. tackling racism.
“What color you are doesn’t matter!” hacks Mario in his awful, gravelly Brooklyn accent from the pre-Martinet era. “You think they’ll ever learn that lesson in the real world?” asks Luigi, with all the subtlety of a brick to the head. “Yeah, when humans get as smart as mushrooms,” finishes Mario, looking straight down the barrel of the camera with a face like a moldy potato sack.
Capcom, pot, and Ace Attorney
All joking aside, these are important life lessons for children. Despite the hamfisted nature of their delivery sometimes, if recognizable brand-name characters are what’s needed to drill them into their heads, so be it. This is evidently the mentality that local police in Osaka, Japan have subscribed to of late. As GameSpot reports, they’ve teamed up with legendary studio Capcom to bring tykes everywhere the latest gaming-inspired Aesop: characters from the lawyer-em-up Ace Attorney advising them not to smoke pot. Yes, really.
You may snort with derision, but this actually makes a modicum of sense. Aside from their appealing designs, the Ace Attorney cast – specifically those from the Great Ace Attorney era in this case, presumably to tie in with the most recent release in the franchise – are a perfect fit for this sort of campaign. They’re necessarily litigious, law-abiding and moral, and as those with intimate knowledge of the series will appreciate, staunchly anti-drugs. Phoenix Wright will never accept a glass of wine when grape juice will do. The only characters to consistently smoke are villains, like Dee Vasquez, and it’s never portrayed positively. Jokes are frequently cracked at the expense of folks who appear inebriated. Sure, the games are chock full of casual murder and sexual harassment, but hey! No drugs. ‘S’all good.
Capcom’s official statement
“Capcom is teaming up with the Osaka Prefecture Police’s juvenile delinquency prevention awareness program for this effort,” states the report. “The publisher said it’s doing its part to to ‘curb rising marijuana abuse among minors through collaboration with authorities’,” and is “producing more than 6,000 original posters and 4,000 flyers about marijuana abuse that come with individually wrapped face masks.” That makes the campaign a pretty handy COVID awareness program, too. Double duty being pulled there, Capcom.
The materials “will be distributed in Osaka at places like train stations and educational institutions starting December 9.” The first batch depicts Ryunosuke Naruhodo (Phoenix’s ancestor), along with his associates Kazuma Asougi and Susato ‘Susie’ Mikotoba. They’re all sternly commanding the reader to stay away from the devil’s lettuce.
Capcom’s official statement on the campaign reads: “This year, Capcom received a request from the Osaka Prefectural Police to utilize characters from the company’s popular Ace Attorney series for the first time in their efforts to prevent marijuana abuse, which has seen a conspicuous shift toward younger age groups.”
No objections from me. Now can we get one with Dick Gumshoe warding would-be delinquents off cocaine? That’d just make my day, pal.
Are you amused by the flyers? Would it put you off drugs? Let us know!
Via, GameSpot.
