US Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, is turning to games to help boost his election campaign.

More specifically, the team supporting the wily Illinois senator have bought billboard space in the ace open-world racer, Burnout Paradise. “Obama for President” they’ll proclaim.

“I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout. Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates,” says Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, omitting to mention that her company’s CEO, John Riccitiello, is a big Obama fan having already donated $4,600 of his own hard-earned to the war chest.

But political allegiances and the rights/wrongs/inevitabilities of in-game advertising aside, is Burnout Paradise such a sensible choice? We didn’t know that billboards were even in the game - and who has time to read anything whilst piling along at eyeball-peeling speeds on one of those shiny new bikes…?