CBCnews
Story Tools: EMAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK | Bookmark and Share

'Miss Bimbo' online game gets makeover amid criticism

Last Updated: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 | 12:37 PM ET

The makers of the online game "Miss Bimbo" have removed the option for players to purchase virtual diet pills as the game targeting young girls comes under close scrutiny.

The game encourages players to create a character that will "become the most famous and beautiful bimbo in the world." 

'The message is clear and simple: a girl's value is in her looks, and if you're not happy with it then fix the way you look, and that's the only way you'll be happy.'—Linda Papadopoulos, psychologist

Players shop for lingerie, strive to reach a target weight and can use reward money deemed "bimbo bucks" to pay for breast enhancements and — until this past weekend — diet pills. The ultimate goal of the game is to attract a virtual billionaire boyfriend.

"As a result of this rather surprising media attention, we have decided to remove the option of purchasing diet pills from the game," said a statement posted on the site, which also noted they were trying to fix operational difficulties owing to increased traffic. "We apologise to any players whom this may inconvenience, but we feel in light of this week's proceedings, it is the correct action to take.

Psychologist Linda Papadopoulos said the site offers girls a troubling solution.

"The message is clear and simple: a girl's value is in her looks, and if you're not happy with it then fix the way you look, and that's the only way you'll be happy," she said.

Similarly Dee Dawson, a UK-based eating disorder expert, said the game's messages are inappropriate.

"It tells you that a balanced diet is a plate of vegetables which is clearly nonsense and it tells you that cereal bars make you fat, they are not messages we should be giving to young children," she said.

But, Nicholas Jacquart and Chris Evans, the makers of Miss Bimbo, defend the game as satire. They also note players are also offered positive games to play.

"It just seem to be some journalists who picked up on one or two areas of it and completely ignored all the positives," said Evans. "What about the Sudoku challenges? What about loving your bimbo? What about taking care of your bimbo sending it to university?"

Miss Bimbo requires parents to register for girls under age 13. In France, where the game first launched, the site has attracted a million users.

  •  
Story Tools: EMAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK | Bookmark and Share
 

Related

Video

David Common reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:21)
Play: QuickTime »
Play: Real Media »

Consumer Headlines

Quebecer's Facebook photo fight a cautionary tale
A technology expert says recent incidents involving Facebook postings should serve as a reminder that nothing is truly private on the internet.
Baby cribs recalled after 4 deaths Video
U.S. government safety regulators are recalling more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs made by B.C.-based Stork Craft Manufacturing, the biggest crib recall in U.S. history.
Manitoba firm fined for misleading contests
A Manitoba firm that sold vacation time-shares has been fined $170,000 by the Competition Bureau for running misleading promotional contests.
Retail sales up 1% in September Video
Retail sales rose one per cent to $34.9 billion in September, the seventh increase in nine months.
Home daycares use TV as babysitter: U.S. study
Parents with kids in home-based daycare likely underestimate the time their youngsters spend watching TV there, a U.S. study says.

People who read this also read …

Top CBCNews.ca Headlines

Headlines

Red Cross told late about prisoner transfers Video
Canadian officials delayed telling the Red Cross it had transferred prisoners to Afghan authorities, CBC News has learned, a situation that may have put detainees at greater risk of abuse.
Storm tosses B.C. ferry passengers
BC Ferries passengers were thrown about a ship buffeted by high winds and reported seven- to 10-metre waves on a voyage Prince Rupert to Skidegate in the Queen Charlotte Islands early Monday morning.
Baby cribs recalled after 4 deaths Video
U.S. government safety regulators are recalling more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs made by B.C.-based Stork Craft Manufacturing, the biggest crib recall in U.S. history.
Mother lost grip in child's airport fall: police Video
A 15-month-old Winnipeg-born boy died Sunday night after wriggling out of his mother's arms and falling about 15 metres at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
4 acquitted in Creba killing Video
Four men accused in the 2005 shooting death of 15-year-old Jane Creba in downtown Toronto were acquitted of manslaughter charges Monday.