GTA III’s commercials also speak to a deeper shift that was going on in American media at the time.
“Radio used to serve communities,” begins Ayinde Alakoye, founder of the live broadcast radio streaming venture nēdl and creator of the original iHeartRadio app. “Then the Telecommunications Act of 1996 essentially deregulated it.”
That act, the “first major overhaul of telecommunications law” in more than six decades, eliminated a cap on nationwide station ownership and increased the number of stations one entity could own in a single market.
“Companies like Clear Channel could just go in and buy up all the radio stations. And for the first time in the history of our country—for something that was once beloved—people started to say the words ‘I hate radio,’” Ayinde continues.
Lazlow thinks one of the reasons the stations in GTA III resonate so strongly with people is because Rockstar leaned into this disenchanted feeling—and nearly every ad has predicted some aspect of American radio and culture in the past 20 years.
Liberty City Survivor, a 24/7-365 broadcasted battle-royale-style event with Liberty City parolees, reminded veteran podcaster Alison Rosen of turn-of-the-decade reality hits like Fear Factor and Survivor. In her world, she does what is called host-read ads; she tries out a product, receives advertising copy with important bullet points, and then puts it all into her own words.
Liberty City Survivor anticipates the Netflix hit show Squid Game as well, which David Bullock, founder of the experiential marketing firm 907 Agency, immediately called out.
Bullock, a Forbes 30 Under 30, first made waves when he helped organize a Project X-type party that trended worldwide on Twitter. He has since traveled on tour with Kanye West and others.
“When you look at the landscape of viral marketing 20 years after that [Liberty City Survivor] ad was created, the series Squid Game has a plot very similar to that commercial, and it is Netflix’s most popular show ever,” he says.
The Advertising Council
Many assets in GTA III have a way of showing up in various ways both within the game and beyond. Most video games don’t bother creating mythology this expansive.
Opening up GTA III’s original Playstation 2 case reveals a manual (remember those?!) and a much-needed map of Liberty City. Within these pages, a “classifieds section” runs these familiar radio ads in print form, including Petsovernight.com, one of Lazlow’s favorites, which even guarantees a giraffe on demand.
Rockstar’s original flash website for GTA III also contained a Petsovernight.com reference. And a small project by Rockstar called the Advertising Council—not to be confused with the actual nonprofit that produces and distributes public service announcements—later unleashed a trove of content deemed too hot for the final airwaves.
A nixed radio commercial for military recruitment asks, “Do you long for a dominating man in your life?” But remember that GTA III was released a few weeks after 9/11, so maybe this was one controversy even Rockstar decided to just avoid.
As for Lazlow, looking back at his ride since 2001 and his role in spearheading these commercials, he says that he’s just grateful he was able to be part of the team and its legacy.
“I’m especially proud of how, in later games, we skewered tech companies, social media, and tech bro founders. As we’ve seen recently, these platforms have monetized division and are really driving people to a dark place. The brilliant folks at Rockstar North in Scotland and Rockstar New York had the vision for this game. I’m super blessed I met them and got to be a part of the team,” he adds.
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