Square Enix pulls awful Hitman Facebook marketing campaign

“We’re sorry for any offence caused by this”

Tarryn van der BylDecember 5, 2012

Just two hours after launching a “Hire Hitman” Facebook app that let users put out a (fake) hit on friends and family, Square Enix binned it and apologised to everybody because it was so, so bad.

What was so, so bad about it? Apart from the questionably hilarious “ASSASSINATION, LOL!” thing, the app required selectable target identification data like “her small tits” and “her hairy legs”, and reasons included “she’s cheating on her partner”. Once dispatched, the app would show the target a series of photos from their own profile before “killing” them. Questionably hilarious indeed.

In a statement following the app’s retraction, Square Enix said that:

“Earlier today we launched an app based around Hitman: Absolution that allowed you to place virtual hits on your Facebook friends. Those hits would only be viewable by the recipient and could only be sent to people who were confirmed friends.

We were wide of the mark with the app and following feedback from the community we decided the best thing to do was remove it completely and quickly. This we’ve now done.

We’re sorry for any offence caused by this.”

I’m not sure why they expected this to turn out any other way.