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Games cause "early death" says Govt. ad

And don't get them started on cakes.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

The Department of Health has launched a new advert that suggests playing videogames can lead to an "early death".

The ad is part of the Change4Life campaign, which is backed by the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and Diabetes UK. It shows a young boy holding a PlayStation controller and looking miserable, accompanied by the slogan, "Risk an early death, just do nothing."

The advert has appeared in various magazines and is also running on the 4yourkids website. There you can see a similar ad warning about the perils of Bakewell tarts, said to cause "premature death". Presumably playing a videogame whilst eating cake will kill you instantly.

It all seems a bit dramatic, especially since the Government's own Byron Review noted there's no solid evidence to link obesity to videogames. Still, we certainly won't be playing any games between now and tomorrow night, or we'll never fit into that dress for the BAFTAs.

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