Sprite (aka Coca-Cola) wants gamers (that’s YOU!) to consider their soft drink the drink of champions (not you currently, but maybe if you start chugging Sprite instead of that nasty Mountain Dew or other Pepsi product). I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP, Snoop, the Doggfather, introduced the Hip-Hop Gaming League, a new video game league for famous people that drink Sprite. Here’s the announcement. There aren’t enough words for lame in the English language to describe this marketing campaign, although, I’ve just now thought of a new one: Sprite.

Business Week has an interesting article about the creeping malice that is in-game advertising: Is That a Video Game — or an Ad?. While Sims publisher Electronic Arts decided against product placement in their next expansion pack, The Sims 2 Open for Business, others are selling static and/or dynamic ad space in their games. With game development costs spiraling ever higher, in-game advertisment may be a necessary evil … plus, at $1 and $2 per connected game unit, that’s a lot of gravy.