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The web-based game celebrated its UK launch last month and already has made global headlines for its dubious goals and unabashed vapidity. Miss Bimbo is fairly simple in scope - your goal is to be “the most famous, beautiful, sought after bimbo around the globe!” In order to accomplish this, you essentially imitate the life of a celebutante - get blonde, stay slim, locate some generically blandsome guy to finance your life style, wear pretty clothes, work a bullshit job until you become famous, grab a boob job to go and marry well.

Think of it as a very limited, shallow, sexed up version of the Sims.

And, I might add, it’s easy to get hooked on. Despite the fact that there is only one skin tone (with one variation) and one hair texture, dressing your avatar is wicked fun with a variety of fabulous clothing choices. The wardrobe alone is enough to keep me playing the game - you can create any kind of look from a historical ball gown to a vaguely S & M keyhole dress. The game also features fun mini-games that range from the boring (French kiss the cute guys for points!) to the popular (Sudoku) to the frustrating (Mastermind).

Parents were in a tizzy over this game, as they were with the French predecessor Ma Bimbo. CNN reports:

In France, where “Miss Bimbo’s” sister Web site, “Ma Bimbo,” was criticized by dieticians and parents when it began last year, one parent threatened the creators with legal action after his daughter ran up a $200 mobile bill sending texts without his knowledge, according to the Times of London newspaper.

Parents’ groups are horrified that the game is taking off in Britain, fearing it could send the wrong message about eating disorders and plastic surgery to young girls

Bill Hibberd, of parents’ rights group Parentkind, told the Times the game sends a dangerous message to young girls.

He said: “It is one thing if a child recognizes it as a silly and stupid game.

“But the danger is that a nine-year-old fails to appreciate the irony and sees the Bimbo as a cool role model. Then the game becomes a hazard and a menace.”

One parent also told The Times the creators were irresponsible. Nick Williams said he was appalled when he saw his daughters Katie, nine, and Sarah, 14, playing the game.

Williams, 42, an accountant, said: “I noticed them looking at possible breast operations and facelifts for their bimbos at the game’s plastic surgery clinic.

“Katie is far too young for that kind of thing and it is irresponsible of the site’s creators to be leading young girls astray. They are easily influenced at that age as to what is cool.”

The controversy has ensured that Miss Bimbo experienced a surge of popularity, now boasting close to 400,000 registered bimbos. And the creators seem to want to court their fair share of drama.

The following letter is from their website (bold emphasis mine):

Dear Players,

Due to unforseen worldwide interest in Miss Bimbo we have had difficulty in maintaining our game in the manner players have become accustomed. We are sorry for this inconvenience and can assure you that our game will be up and running as soon as possible.

As a result of this rather surprising media attention we have decided to remove the option of purchasing diet pills from the game. We apologise to any players whom this may inconvenience but we feel in light of this weeks proceedings it is the correct action to take.

We would also like to sincerely apologise to our players for the media comparison of Miss Bimbo and Paris Hilton. We feel that this does a dis-service to the players whom send their bimbos to university, tea parties or chess tournaments.

At this time we would also like to remind players that the Miss Bimbo team assume no responsibility or liability for any fashion faux pas, hair style disasters or boob jobs incurred in real life as as a result of playing the Miss Bimbo game.

The Miss Bimbo Team.

Cheeky, aren’t they?

And some kind of brilliant. By leveraging the power of the internet and parental outrage, the creators of Miss Bimbo managed to create an online community virtually overnight full of dedicated users and attract thousands more to their site. It kind of reminds me of a game that was going around while I was in middle and high school. The game was called “Drug Wars” and it was played on a TI-83 scientific calculator. The point of the game was to sell drugs, trade guns, and eventually kill enough people to become a drug king-pin. Numeric controls (1 = shoot, 2 = run) and a simple algorithm provided enough scenarios to amuse the majority of the class through the duration of Algebra 1.

Parents were also in an uproar about this game believing it promoted bad behavior. The game eventually disappeared from calculators - but not because of parental involvement. After a few weeks of play, drug dealer just simply played out. And, Miss Bimbo will probably go the same way. After achieving most of the basic “goals” of the game, what is left is a giant wardrobe and hair options. Two years from now, Miss Bimbo will be an avatar graveyard, full of the abandoned bimbos quietly gathering electronic dust.

But here’s what disturbs me about this whole situation - our own Miss Bimbo culture will remain unchanged. Parents should not be worrying about one online game when there are women in real life that embody this lifestyle and their exploits are chronicled down to the minute, easily accessible through the internet, TV, and weekly magazines. Miss Bimbo is a game, but in real life the accepted and prized beauty ideals reinforce the message that being thin, white, and fashionable is a measure of success in life - and the reward for this is to live a carefree lifestyle as someone’s arm candy. Miss Bimbo promotes the exact same lifestyle that is being presented as an ideal on MTV and in the pages of US Weekly and In Touch. The new American dream for young girls to grow up be a reality TV bimbo, with pre-teens beginning to alter their faces and bodies in their quest to fit the prescribed beauty ideal starting around the age of nine.

Miss Bimbo is an outgrowth of bimbo culture, not the cause. And most depressing of all, Miss Bimbo is unflinchingly accurate in its portrayal of a certain segment of society.

So my question to the concerned citizens ready to protest and picket for the sake of adolescent girls everywhere is this:

We can ban a game. What are we going to do to fix the culture?

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Gaming in the Media: Worried About Miss Bimbo? Don’t Be.

April 2008 Issue

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