10 biggest PR disasters in the gaming industry

[Blaze786]

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=5950&mp=1

Capcom’s Dead Body Parts

For the release of Resident Evil 5 Capcom tried to emulate a trick used by the producers of the Batman Film: The Dark Knight. The Batman idea was to distribute joker cards all over a few cities to get folks excited about the movie; Capcom chose body parts instead. Imagine if you will a leisurely walk around Trafalgar Square (a.k.a. one of the bigger tourist spots in London) and you stumble upon a severed head, what bad could come of that? The idea was for the person to find the most severed limbs and other body parts was to win a trip to Africa to celebrate the game’s new locale. The publicity stunt went wrong for two reasons: many folks took the body parts and simply kept them for some bizarre reason, or even worse, mistook them for real ones and contacted the authorities. The second problem was that the parts were smeared in chicken livers and blood, making them a huge contamination risk due to salmonella and other food-borne diseases.

They got desperate due to pressure form a few groups to release a few statements like:





"The body parts are very realistic and we don't want people to be alarmed by them. They've all been taken from their original positions, but we now have no idea where they are.



"If you have them, please either return them, or dispose of them in a responsible and careful manner. In addition, chicken livers were used for added gore, and, uncooked, they can be dangerous."



To make matters worse the participants were told to stand around and nonchalantly wave the severed limbs around:



“Participants were instructed to: ‘Alert [Capcom] to your presence by standing on the bridge, holding the artificial body parts over your head and shouting “Kijuju!”. We will be there, watching you, and will approach when you make yourselves known.’”



….which caused a bit of panic.

[Maplassie]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

I actually think its awesome. Stupid and would never work, but AWESOME

[Alan]

In today’s rabidly political correct world the following PR stunt is probably the worst idea to ever have. A few years ago in the buildup to the European release of God of War II Sony had a great idea: “let’s throw a depraved God of War Party!”. Problem was that the word “excess” was not in the party planner’s vocabulary. UK newspapers had the lowdown:



“Sickening images of the party have appeared in the company's official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Sony issued an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run.

Critics condemned the entertainment giant, which produces scores of Hollywood blockbusters each year, for its "blood lust" and said the grotesque "sacrifice" highlighted increasing concerns over the content of video games and the lengths to which the industry will go to exploit youngsters.”



During the party a freshly decapitated goat was hauled in and party-goers were treated to the still warm goat intestines as a feast. The intestines, which were cooked, had been placed back into the goat, as if it was a huge party platter. There was even a contest to see who could eat the most meat, and the grizzly remains of the animal were showcased as a centerpiece. This would have gone unnoticed except the pictures were tossed into their very own OFFICIAL magazine.

Add in a few topless dancers, booze, and other poor choices and you can see why many found this a tad too much.

W T F

[Venom]

I think it was genius , as a PR stunt what better way to attract attention to your product than to have it all over the news , and people talking about it which everyone certainly did
And that is the objective of Marketing.