Martha Stewart is ruining my World :(

  I understand how completely random that sentiment seems.  You need to know that I simply cannot stand Martha Stewart.  You're probably thinking: Who cares? And WHY am I bothering you with this? 

I'll tell you why: Because she has personally invaded my world. Okay not my real world.

You have to admit this is not the most flattering image.

    Imagine my displeasure when I signed onto my favorite game, Zynga's CastleVille (where I play as Lady Bren) and there was Martha Stewart. 

    CastleVille is played primarily on Facebook so it has players from all around the world.  I have spent the last two days educating my subjects as to who she is. (Ok they're not really subjects but hey it is CastleVille so I have my Royal Mojo ON) Those that do know who she is fall into two distinct camps.  They either: Really really love everything she does or absolutely hate her.Games.com has an article and poll on whether her appearance will ruin the fantasy.  On different gaming threads there are groups talking about boycotting the game until her "Quest" is gone.  Other threads have gamers completely abandoning Zynga completely over what they feel is a complete sell out. 

   But back to Martha~ Long before her legal issues I simply never got the fascination.  Martha, in my humble opinion, was one of the worst things to ever happen to women.  The way she presents everything as "simply do this" or "of course everyone can" drives me nuts.  While I believe in setting standards there are realistic ones and then there's Martha's.  If you were to actually live your life the way she preaches you would need weeks that contain twelve 46 hour days as well as unlimited resources, a large staff and a family that only comes out for the pictures.

     Her daughter Alexis has built her own fame on having survived being Martha's child.  In her TV show "Whatever Martha" she and best friend Jennifer would bash her Mom's old shows.  Sharing tales of how rude she was to guests or how horribly she treated the staff.  On their weekly radio show "Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer" they talked often about how imperfect they were and unable to live up to the standards created by Martha.  The latest avenue of this Martha bashing career was last fall when the ladies co-authored Whateverland: Learning to Live Here.  Martha Stewart was a producer of both the TV and Radio show.  Talk about a resolved relationship. On her own show Martha said that she found the book to be very enlightening as well as entertaining and encouraged everyone to buy it and make it a best seller. 

    Back to the gaming world issue.  Why would a major image such as herself join Zynga? Surprisingly I have been unable to find much on the joint venture though Martha did send out a tweet earlier today: CastleVille, Zynga's newest game goes live tonight with Martha's Kingdom. Play and visit with me. I am a very cute avatar.

    I understand that for years we've been playing games with avatars of real people... from the Backyard Sports computer game series to any John Madden or any EASports game.  What just seems so wrong is having someone like Martha show up in a game like CastleVille.  While I can most definitely see her wanting to be the top royal beyond that I can't make any connection whatsoever.  Heck we collect Ogre's burps for heaven's sake.  Outside her compensation what benefit is there for her?  Or maybe?? Did someone somewhere think: "Hey Martha if you become an avatar in CastleVille your name/brand will spread more globally so we can sell more towels worldwide?"  UGGHH

     I guess it was inevitable.  Product placement has expanded into the gaming world.  What's next the preschool set:

A is for Apple

M is for McDonald's

W is for Walmart