EA Apologize for 'Sin-to-Win' Wording

[Asehujiko]

The person who organized this is probably getting yelled at right now in some EA office... Poor chap, oh well!

I can see how people didn't like the wording however, kind of encouraged groping of the booth babes.

Or they are buying a crate of beer for him because the "attention through controversy" plan obviously worked.

It doesn't make me think any more highly about God of War 2.5 Dante's Inferno.

 

[ideitbawx]

How could nobody at EA not see how 'Booty' could be misconstrued when they had just said the phrase "acts of lust"?

Although... Heh heh. Booty.

I think that was the point. You know, the whole double entendre deal?

yeah, but i don't think they wanted to imply that the booth babes were actually escorts in every sense of the word. i can see the winner gazing across the table at his favourite babe, taking a deep, loving stare into her breasts. for four hours. thinking he might actually get some, if he can just get the jedi mind trick to work on her ...

 

[ideitbawx]

That was fail on so many levels. They could've made it not look like they were selling their booth babes as whores.

How exactly do they do that when they are paying women to sexually titillate males who walk by their booth by dressing in skimpy outfits?

That's what I don't get about this big controversy: it's okay to dress them like whores--and I mean no disrespect in using that term--but not okay to admit what you're doing?

i think they were afraid that the way it was worded was implying they actually were whores, not simply dressing up as them. win a night with the booth babes by committing a sin with them? c'mon, who wouldn't go into that thinking about getting laid? even if they knew it would never happen?

besides, the article itself is pretty vague, as is ea's apology. there are no real details about the "uproar" this has caused. is this religious groups? feminist groups? comic-con polls from attendees? the booth babes forgot to shut their mouths? (ea busts out his pimpin hand to smack the ho's) what part of the whole thing offends these groups the most? who knows? i don't because it's not in the article!! all i see is "ea are perverts, they issued a vague apology, and are now back to taking their classic simulation games and dumbing them down further for the next console generation".

by the way, wasn't dante's inferno about the circles of hell and who occupies them, not dante committing every sin he possibly could? i've got a feeling that game is gonna be pure fail.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

you only get the full Booth Babe fun when you are a CEO or Politician or FBI or otherwise do buisness with them.

I´d stille like to know what those Booth Babes think about it?
I mean posing with some comic/gamer nerd is totally ok. Hey I need my yearly bodily contact.

But being actually forced hanging around with one of them a whole evening, just because this guy WON something is really a disgusting idea.

by the way, wasn't dante's inferno about the circles of hell and who occupies them, not dante committing every sin he possibly could?

...that was Marquis DeSade, exploring some of it.

 

[DeathQuaker]

It is beyond me how anyone could possibly commiserate with EA over something like wording when the "contest" actively promotes sexual harassment, a FEDERAL CRIME in the US. Those girls were not hired to do more than speak and/or stand beside a product. There is no way a clause in their contract would ever allow for physical contact as it would also violate the same federal crimes listed above. Either way EA is not the sole employer of "booth babes" at the show so it's only semantics at this point.

For those defending EA's request to assault women without consent in violation of US law and basic civil rights... I'd like to hear what your girlfriends/mothers/daughters think of your opinions on booth babes.

THANK YOU.


And I love the way the very existance of the booth babes is being used to discredit the views of people who find this appalling. As if the people who hire them could give a rat's arse what people like us think. That's just so classy.

Well said, both of you. Apparently you're an oppressive zealot if you think people should be treated with respect. The horror!

It's clear EA messed up and went a little too far. They could have found a way to be harmlessly titillating without looking like they were encouraging harassment and other disrespectful behavior.

 

[squid5580]

It is beyond me how anyone could possibly commiserate with EA over something like wording when the "contest" actively promotes sexual harassment, a FEDERAL CRIME in the US. Those girls were not hired to do more than speak and/or stand beside a product. There is no way a clause in their contract would ever allow for physical contact as it would also violate the same federal crimes listed above. Either way EA is not the sole employer of "booth babes" at the show so it's only semantics at this point.

For those defending EA's request to assault women without consent in violation of US law and basic civil rights... I'd like to hear what your girlfriends/mothers/daughters think of your opinions on booth babes.

THANK YOU.


And I love the way the very existance of the booth babes is being used to discredit the views of people who find this appalling. As if the people who hire them could give a rat's arse what people like us think. That's just so classy.

Well said, both of you. Apparently you're an oppressive zealot if you think people should be treated with respect. The horror!

It's clear EA messed up and went a little too far. They could have found a way to be harmlessly titillating without looking like they were encouraging harassment and other disrespectful behavior.

Where is the line here? It is OK to hire the best looking girls you can find, dress them up in 2 pieces of string just enough to cover the naughty parts, and then get all bent out of shape when a contest says grab some pics with her? Geez all you need to do is be next to them with a camera. Oh thats right setting them up for sexual harrassment that way is wrong. Setting them up as sex objects to sell your product is fine. Why they would never be harrassed if it wasn't for the contest. Should have never brought them back in the first place IMO. Let them find jobs based on thier skills not on thier sex appeal.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

*snip*

And then Activision could be the clandestine cloaked cult....I'm thinking maybe we could dig up Vincent Price for that part. Maybe sign Danny Devito as his seecond in command.

Hold on, I'm writing this down.

Christopher Lee could be in that cult somewhere. Not forgetting the noble heroes' mentor, BRIAN BLESSED!

 

[teutonicman]

Hahaha! punks! For a minute I thought that it was going to be the games motto/slogan or something.

 

[Dom Camus]

I'm most amused by the way most posters to this thread seem to think EA's marketing department is failing here.

For the third time in a row, they've hit it out of the park!

This story is all over the web. That's a HUGE marketing win. Money can't buy that amount of coverage. It doesn't matter that people like me (and maybe you) don't like the stunt compared to the hundreds of thousands (millions?) who will hear about the game via this story. In my case, I wasn't going to buy a copy anyway.

 

[HentMas]

Yet another case of idiots over-reacting and getting all preachy about a video game, albeit one based on a book/play/whatever the fuck.

If anyone here is an idiot, it's the dude at EA that didn't think anyone will have issues with the idea of beneficial commiting of sins.

To be honest, this is Comic-Con, not a church. It has booth babes who's job is, frankly, to sell games via sex appeal. Ok, maybe the joke could have been more homourous to highlight it was a joke, but still, I don't think anyone was expecting a solemn and somber atmosphere at the place.

yeah like adding "YAR MATEY GET THE BOOTY FROM OUR BOOTH BABES" being said by that pirate from Spongebob squarepants...

or simply put... DONT.

 

[Arcadia2000]

It is beyond me how anyone could possibly commiserate with EA over something like wording when the "contest" actively promotes sexual harassment, a FEDERAL CRIME in the US. Those girls were not hired to do more than speak and/or stand beside a product. There is no way a clause in their contract would ever allow for physical contact as it would also violate the same federal crimes listed above. Either way EA is not the sole employer of "booth babes" at the show so it's only semantics at this point.

For those defending EA's request to assault women without consent in violation of US law and basic civil rights... I'd like to hear what your girlfriends/mothers/daughters think of your opinions on booth babes.

THANK YOU.


And I love the way the very existance of the booth babes is being used to discredit the views of people who find this appalling. As if the people who hire them could give a rat's arse what people like us think. That's just so classy.

Well said, both of you. Apparently you're an oppressive zealot if you think people should be treated with respect. The horror!

It's clear EA messed up and went a little too far. They could have found a way to be harmlessly titillating without looking like they were encouraging harassment and other disrespectful behavior.

Where is the line here? It is OK to hire the best looking girls you can find, dress them up in 2 pieces of string just enough to cover the naughty parts, and then get all bent out of shape when a contest says grab some pics with her? Geez all you need to do is be next to them with a camera. Oh thats right setting them up for sexual harrassment that way is wrong. Setting them up as sex objects to sell your product is fine. Why they would never be harrassed if it wasn't for the contest. Should have never brought them back in the first place IMO. Let them find jobs based on thier skills not on thier sex appeal.

Normally I'd snip some of the above out, but I agree with it too strongly. I want it there. Dude, the line is this: You've been hired to stand outside a pizza company on a nice day with a sign that says "Buy this pizza! It's awesome!" [Whether or not you would ever do this is irrelevant.] Furthermore, the company has just issued an additional promo that if people bring in pics of themselves with you, the sign dude, they get a discount and the chance to win a decent prize.

Now, most sensible human beings are going to ask first before they chum on up to you and take pics. But not everyone out there is a Dorothy, Tinman or Cowardly Lion, some of them are Scarecrows and don't have brains. Which means the company has just set you up to get mauled by every Tom-Dick-and-Harry that comes by. They could be smelly, dirty, rude, and/or inappropriate, and they can do inappropriate things to you, and you've lost a good deal of defense because you're supposed to cooperate.

Now, no one said that you agreed to be sexualy harassed, but people are going to do it, maybe just a harmless pinch on the old bum, but if it's some ugly chick or screwed up dude, did you really want them touching you? You can cry foul, but who saw it? It's your word against theirs. They might get tossed out on their ear eventually, but you still got pawed by someone you didn't want even being 3 feet from you.

The point isn't that it was a joke, it's that even if they got every booth babe in the entire con's permission to do this little stunt, it gives those people without a brain liscense to do stupid things they wouldn't otherwise. It's not even the wording that's so awful, even though it helps. It's the whole idea that somehow it's now okay to touch things that aren't yours. Whether they're in bikinis or in furry-suits or in hazmat suits, they human beings and deserve the right to protection. When EA issused that promo, they removed some of the invisible barrier that protects the women there from being mistaken for merchandise. The very fact that they could EVER be mistaken for merchandise is what makes this thing so sickening.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

EA is finally doing things right and people have to go and rag on them for it. Shame on all of them.

 

[squid5580]

It is beyond me how anyone could possibly commiserate with EA over something like wording when the "contest" actively promotes sexual harassment, a FEDERAL CRIME in the US. Those girls were not hired to do more than speak and/or stand beside a product. There is no way a clause in their contract would ever allow for physical contact as it would also violate the same federal crimes listed above. Either way EA is not the sole employer of "booth babes" at the show so it's only semantics at this point.

For those defending EA's request to assault women without consent in violation of US law and basic civil rights... I'd like to hear what your girlfriends/mothers/daughters think of your opinions on booth babes.

THANK YOU.


And I love the way the very existance of the booth babes is being used to discredit the views of people who find this appalling. As if the people who hire them could give a rat's arse what people like us think. That's just so classy.

Well said, both of you. Apparently you're an oppressive zealot if you think people should be treated with respect. The horror!

It's clear EA messed up and went a little too far. They could have found a way to be harmlessly titillating without looking like they were encouraging harassment and other disrespectful behavior.

Where is the line here? It is OK to hire the best looking girls you can find, dress them up in 2 pieces of string just enough to cover the naughty parts, and then get all bent out of shape when a contest says grab some pics with her? Geez all you need to do is be next to them with a camera. Oh thats right setting them up for sexual harrassment that way is wrong. Setting them up as sex objects to sell your product is fine. Why they would never be harrassed if it wasn't for the contest. Should have never brought them back in the first place IMO. Let them find jobs based on thier skills not on thier sex appeal.

Normally I'd snip some of the above out, but I agree with it too strongly. I want it there. Dude, the line is this: You've been hired to stand outside a pizza company on a nice day with a sign that says "Buy this pizza! It's awesome!" [Whether or not you would ever do this is irrelevant.] Furthermore, the company has just issued an additional promo that if people bring in pics of themselves with you, the sign dude, they get a discount and the chance to win a decent prize.

Now, most sensible human beings are going to ask first before they chum on up to you and take pics. But not everyone out there is a Dorothy, Tinman or Cowardly Lion, some of them are Scarecrows and don't have brains. Which means the company has just set you up to get mauled by every Tom-Dick-and-Harry that comes by. They could be smelly, dirty, rude, and/or inappropriate, and they can do inappropriate things to you, and you've lost a good deal of defense because you're supposed to cooperate.

Now, no one said that you agreed to be sexualy harassed, but people are going to do it, maybe just a harmless pinch on the old bum, but if it's some ugly chick or screwed up dude, did you really want them touching you? You can cry foul, but who saw it? It's your word against theirs. They might get tossed out on their ear eventually, but you still got pawed by someone you didn't want even being 3 feet from you.

The point isn't that it was a joke, it's that even if they got every booth babe in the entire con's permission to do this little stunt, it gives those people without a brain liscense to do stupid things they wouldn't otherwise. It's not even the wording that's so awful, even though it helps. It's the whole idea that somehow it's now okay to touch things that aren't yours. Whether they're in bikinis or in furry-suits or in hazmat suits, they human beings and deserve the right to protection. When EA issused that promo, they removed some of the invisible barrier that protects the women there from being mistaken for merchandise. The very fact that they could EVER be mistaken for merchandise is what makes this thing so sickening.

The fact that they are there in the first place puts them at risk of everything you just said. There is also a big difference between repeatedly asking for one's phone number (moreso when they are there for the sole purpose of being eye candy) and any form of physical touching. Only one is sexual harrassment.

It also raises the question why there isn't security. A bouncer in every booth.

 

[lostclause]

Further reason to have no confidence in Dante's inferno being any good.

 

[Trevel]

Me, I've got nothing against the concept of booth babes. It's voluntary, the women are allegedly paid decently, and I hope they mostly enjoy it despite the creeps and stalkers that will show up. They signed up for it, they know what they're getting in to, and I really can't be bothered to be offended on behalf of someone who is essentially objectifying themself.

But this contest still rubs me the wrong way. First off, this is EA Marketing making their bold pronouncement, not something that the girls working for other companies have a say in -- even if EA actually bothered to tell their own girls about it -- and while I've nothing against someone voluntarily setting themself up for objectification, I do not care for someone ELSE objectifying them, and certainly not someone that caries an air of legitimacy like a major company. It's done TO them, not BY them, and that DOES make a difference. Having a major company telling people to sinfully commit acts of lust against women -- ugh.

And yes, I know it's themed to the game, and I know it's actually pretty tame when you read the fine print... But just because part of their job is dealing with the inevitable sexual harassment doesn't mean we should be encouraging it, or letting a major company get away with the same.

 

[akIceman]

Booty: Win swag. How could that possibly be misconstrued?

 

[akIceman]

It is beyond me how anyone could possibly commiserate with EA over something like wording when the "contest" actively promotes sexual harassment, a FEDERAL CRIME in the US. Those girls were not hired to do more than speak and/or stand beside a product. There is no way a clause in their contract would ever allow for physical contact as it would also violate the same federal crimes listed above. Either way EA is not the sole employer of "booth babes" at the show so it's only semantics at this point.

For those defending EA's request to assault women without consent in violation of US law and basic civil rights... I'd like to hear what your girlfriends/mothers/daughters think of your opinions on booth babes.

THANK YOU.


And I love the way the very existance of the booth babes is being used to discredit the views of people who find this appalling. As if the people who hire them could give a rat's arse what people like us think. That's just so classy.

Well said, both of you. Apparently you're an oppressive zealot if you think people should be treated with respect. The horror!

It's clear EA messed up and went a little too far. They could have found a way to be harmlessly titillating without looking like they were encouraging harassment and other disrespectful behavior.

Where is the line here? It is OK to hire the best looking girls you can find, dress them up in 2 pieces of string just enough to cover the naughty parts, and then get all bent out of shape when a contest says grab some pics with her? Geez all you need to do is be next to them with a camera. Oh thats right setting them up for sexual harrassment that way is wrong. Setting them up as sex objects to sell your product is fine. Why they would never be harrassed if it wasn't for the contest. Should have never brought them back in the first place IMO. Let them find jobs based on thier skills not on thier sex appeal.

Normally I'd snip some of the above out, but I agree with it too strongly. I want it there. Dude, the line is this: You've been hired to stand outside a pizza company on a nice day with a sign that says "Buy this pizza! It's awesome!" [Whether or not you would ever do this is irrelevant.] Furthermore, the company has just issued an additional promo that if people bring in pics of themselves with you, the sign dude, they get a discount and the chance to win a decent prize.

Now, most sensible human beings are going to ask first before they chum on up to you and take pics. But not everyone out there is a Dorothy, Tinman or Cowardly Lion, some of them are Scarecrows and don't have brains. Which means the company has just set you up to get mauled by every Tom-Dick-and-Harry that comes by. They could be smelly, dirty, rude, and/or inappropriate, and they can do inappropriate things to you, and you've lost a good deal of defense because you're supposed to cooperate.

Now, no one said that you agreed to be sexualy harassed, but people are going to do it, maybe just a harmless pinch on the old bum, but if it's some ugly chick or screwed up dude, did you really want them touching you? You can cry foul, but who saw it? It's your word against theirs. They might get tossed out on their ear eventually, but you still got pawed by someone you didn't want even being 3 feet from you.

The point isn't that it was a joke, it's that even if they got every booth babe in the entire con's permission to do this little stunt, it gives those people without a brain liscense to do stupid things they wouldn't otherwise. It's not even the wording that's so awful, even though it helps. It's the whole idea that somehow it's now okay to touch things that aren't yours. Whether they're in bikinis or in furry-suits or in hazmat suits, they human beings and deserve the right to protection. When EA issused that promo, they removed some of the invisible barrier that protects the women there from being mistaken for merchandise. The very fact that they could EVER be mistaken for merchandise is what makes this thing so sickening.

The fact that they are there in the first place puts them at risk of everything you just said. There is also a big difference between repeatedly asking for one's phone number (moreso when they are there for the sole purpose of being eye candy) and any form of physical touching. Only one is sexual harrassment.

It also raises the question why there isn't security. A bouncer in every booth.

That last line is just begging for a tasteless, horrible pun. (ie: something along the lines of "two")

 

[bushwhacker2k]

Yet another case of idiots over-reacting and getting all preachy about a video game, albeit one based on a book/play/whatever the fuck.

I don't think I follow who you're bashing.

Pretty immature and lame marketing scheme though, I assume they listed guidelines on 'acts of lust'?