Video games are a pretty popular scapegoat these days and the UK Government has taken its own crack at them. The USA isn’t the only country with an obesity problem: the people of Great Britain are equally fond of deep-fried foods and high calorie diets. The campaign is trying to encourage children to be more active, but it doesn’t pull any punches in doing so. The controversial ad depicts a young boy sitting holding a Playstation controller with the text “Risk an early death: do nothing”.

The ad is part of the ‘Change4Life’ campaign and it has sparked a furor amongst the video games industry, who feel that their economic contributions to the British government should garner them some respect. Formal complaints have been filed and legal action may be taken against the UK government by Sony, who say they were not consulted regarding the use of the Playstation controller in the advertisement.

Despite how inflammatory this particular advertisement is, the overall scope of the campaign doesn’t seek to villify gaming; its overall emphasis is on more active lifestyles and eating better.