EB Australia Apologizes For GTA V Cocaine Stunt

[Ravage]

Relevant to the promo itself, I think coke is a little too on point for GTA - appropriate for a Scarface game, maybe, but not really GTA. A better idea, I think, would be to do a fake "on location" radio broadcast in the style of one of the popular GTA IV stations - use the name, play the same kind of music, dress up like Axl Rose, run occasional ads for Pisswasser, that sort of thing. (Maybe slip in one or two for Friggin Chicken and see if anyone notices.) It's "real" GTA, plus great music, and nobody gets hassled for rolling out the snot carpeting.

I'm sure that would have been a better idea but it's more time consuming and of course costs money compared to throwing out $0.75 sugar candy on the table and passing it as coke. Even so, Trevor's a drug smuggler anyway, it fits the scenario to some degree. I don't think they should have to apologize for anything, the only reason they should have apologized was if kids were in there and asking their parents what it is, then you ask yourself "what are kids doing at a GTA V midnight anyway?"

 

[Gilhelmi]

If it was a more minor drug, like Marihuana, I might say it was an overreaction.

But not Cocaine, it is far too dangerous to even joke about. Sure, anyone with a brain knows its not real, but it is still in very poor taste. I would compare it to having an event where they were telling "dead baby jokes". Darn straight someone should apologize for this.

 

[Psychobabble]

Yep the illicit drugs trade and the culture of addiction, degradation, death and violence that surrounds it is an amazingly humorous party piece. Congratulations to the guys at EB Games, at a time when fans of the GTA series are already under siege by both right and left wing panic mongers, for finding yet another way to make said fans look even more like unstable and dangerous twats. Great job guys.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Oh. My. God.

EB is still in business???

Oh, I see. "Powered by GameStop".

Yeah. Here in Canada we also got EBGames. However everything inside the stores are plastered with GameStop. I find it a bit depressing.

 

[RicoADF]

Then again, this is Australia we're talking about, and I'm suddenly starting to think that maybe they shouldn't be allowed to play with M-rated games

I realise this is tongue in cheek, but it comes off as a bit of a cock of a way to put things. Us Aussies are trying hard to get our games unfiltered as we deserve, but you make the suggestion that gamers themselves here aren't mature enough to handle mature content.

Normally i'm not offended, maybe i'm just tired. But that really rubbed me the wrong way.

Food for thought.

Your not the only one mate, when you read articles you don't expect that crap.

OT: Stupid EB reps apologizing for a smart store being creative.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Yep the illicit drugs trade and the culture of addiction, degradation, death and violence that surrounds it is an amazingly humorous party piece. Congratulations to the guys at EB Games, at a time when fans of the GTA series are already under siege by both right and left wing panic mongers, for finding yet another way to make said fans look even more like unstable and dangerous twats. Great job guys.

So it's okay to turn "the illicit drugs trade" to entertainment purposes within the context of a videogame, but not for advertising purposes? Serious question, because it's an interesting line to draw; arbitrary, but also one that most people would probably agree with. But why one and not the other? Are games acceptable as a "mature" medium only as long as we're willing to keep it under wraps?

 

[Psychobabble]

Yep the illicit drugs trade and the culture of addiction, degradation, death and violence that surrounds it is an amazingly humorous party piece. Congratulations to the guys at EB Games, at a time when fans of the GTA series are already under siege by both right and left wing panic mongers, for finding yet another way to make said fans look even more like unstable and dangerous twats. Great job guys.

So it's okay to turn "the illicit drugs trade" to entertainment purposes within the context of a videogame, but not for advertising purposes? Serious question, because it's an interesting line to draw; arbitrary, but also one that most people would probably agree with. But why one and not the other? Are games acceptable as a "mature" medium only as long as we're willing to keep it under wraps?

If said game was specifically about the drug trade, say Grand Drug Kingpin 5 or Breaking Bad the video game, then maybe the stage dressing they used would have been more appropriate. As it is though that's not really what GTA is about. And I feel this stunt badly misrepresents both the game franchise and its fans.

And as to the question of maturity, many people outside, and even some inside the gaming culture don't see these games as a mature form of entertainment. I feel that's why so many panic mongers go ballistic over such things as video game violence as they still see it only as pastime for children. Stupid stunts like the people at EB Games pulled DO NOT HELP but to further mire these uneducated critics further into their misguided and uninformed opinions. And worse actually help add credence to their livid and ill-informed prejudices.

 

[Dogstile]

Its a prop, games use violence all the time in adverts, why the hell is a prop so bad exactly? GTA has plenty to do with drugs, its not exactly like they're unrelated.

 

[Strazdas]

So basically they apologized for decorating their store in appropriate fashion. I know the costumer is always right but this is pushing a bit too far. I guess in the end everyone will be using homogenizeid sterile enviroments everywhere....

Relevant to the promo itself, I think coke is a little too on point for GTA - appropriate for a Scarface game, maybe, but not really GTA. A better idea, I think, would be to do a fake "on location" radio broadcast in the style of one of the popular GTA IV stations - use the name, play the same kind of music, dress up like Axl Rose, run occasional ads for Pisswasser, that sort of thing. (Maybe slip in one or two for Friggin Chicken and see if anyone notices.) It's "real" GTA, plus great music, and nobody gets hassled for rolling out the snot carpeting.

Like the folks in europe that had armed, masked people telling gamers to buy gta 5 as a prop?



capcha: rebuke a wise man
Well yes, Andy is indeed a wise man, hes my favourite news writer

 

[Andy Chalk]

If said game was specifically about the drug trade, say Grand Drug Kingpin 5 or Breaking Bad the video game, then maybe the stage dressing they used would have been more appropriate. As it is though that's not really what GTA is about. And I feel this stunt badly misrepresents both the game franchise and its fans.

And as to the question of maturity, many people outside, and even some inside the gaming culture don't see these games as a mature form of entertainment. I feel that's why so many panic mongers go ballistic over such things as video game violence as they still see it only as pastime for children. Stupid stunts like the people at EB Games pulled DO NOT HELP but to further mire these uneducated critics further into their misguided and uninformed opinions. And worse actually help add credence to their livid and ill-informed prejudices.

Absolutely agree with your first point. Coke is a little too specific for GTA, which would have been far better served by, I dunno, a display of fake guns and cash or something. (If you wanted to take that "static display" approach.) But that's a matter of failed (or at least poorly targeted) marketing rather than inappropriate content.

There are also those who would argue that it's time to stop worrying about what "panic mongers" think, and time to start demanding that games be accorded the same respect as other forms of entertainment. Maybe that means a confrontational approach; maybe it means, instead of trying not to rile up the reactionaries, we make a point of doing so, so that we can nail this shit down once and for all. Drag it out into the light, put the boots to it and let nature take its course. More and more, I'm thinking that might just be the way to handle it at this point.

 

[Psychobabble]

If said game was specifically about the drug trade, say Grand Drug Kingpin 5 or Breaking Bad the video game, then maybe the stage dressing they used would have been more appropriate. As it is though that's not really what GTA is about. And I feel this stunt badly misrepresents both the game franchise and its fans.

And as to the question of maturity, many people outside, and even some inside the gaming culture don't see these games as a mature form of entertainment. I feel that's why so many panic mongers go ballistic over such things as video game violence as they still see it only as pastime for children. Stupid stunts like the people at EB Games pulled DO NOT HELP but to further mire these uneducated critics further into their misguided and uninformed opinions. And worse actually help add credence to their livid and ill-informed prejudices.

Absolutely agree with your first point. Coke is a little too specific for GTA, which would have been far better served by, I dunno, a display of fake guns and cash or something. (If you wanted to take that "static display" approach.) But that's a matter of failed (or at least poorly targeted) marketing rather than inappropriate content.

There are also those who would argue that it's time to stop worrying about what "panic mongers" think, and time to start demanding that games be accorded the same respect as other forms of entertainment. Maybe that means a confrontational approach; maybe it means, instead of trying not to rile up the reactionaries, we make a point of doing so, so that we can nail this shit down once and for all. Drag it out into the light, put the boots to it and let nature take its course. More and more, I'm thinking that might just be the way to handle it at this point.

I'm sorry to say I feel it's a wonderful fantasy, at least at this point in time, to hope or even fight for video games to be accorded the same respect as other forms of media. Compared to film prose and music, video games are still a very young industry. Films prose and music have been fighting the battle against censorship longer than most of us have been alive, and they are still fighting. Since their inception video games have held the same stigma of being seen by the uneducated as time wasting, intelligence dropping, violence inducing garbage. And sadly the brunt of the uneducated seem to be politicians and lobbyists.

Oddly enough though, I feel the main reason video games get such a bad reputation is from gamers themselves. Since it's a very interactive medium, and given the rise in online interaction where players time and again prove they just can't be civil to each other or game creators, it's no wonder it's so easy for the panic mongers to keep the so called evils of these video games in the headlines.

So I'm sorry but while I want to agree with your idea it's time we take these agenda pushing critics head on, I simply can't. The reason being is I feel all that will do is add more fuel to their side of the argument that gamers are angry, violent and reactionary individuals.

 

[Hazy]

That's actually pretty clever. Maybe get a few guys in gasmasks and exterminator uniforms to stand by the door with fake assault rifles to make sure nobody leaves before midnight. Make the whole store into one big ol' criminal safehouse.

 

[Psychobabble]

That's actually pretty clever. Maybe get a few guys in gasmasks and exterminator uniforms to stand by the door with fake assault rifles to make sure nobody leaves before midnight. Make the whole store into one big ol' criminal safehouse.

Or to make it as realistic to the game as possible, once the customer has made their purchase and left the store, have someone either run them over with a car or club them to death with a golf club and get their game back.

 

[Hazy]

That's actually pretty clever. Maybe get a few guys in gasmasks and exterminator uniforms to stand by the door with fake assault rifles to make sure nobody leaves before midnight. Make the whole store into one big ol' criminal safehouse.

Or to make it as realistic to the game as possible, once the customer has made their purchase and left the store, have someone either run them over with a car or club them to death with a golf club and get their game back.

Do ho ho

I thought that was standard fare for EB/Gamestop visits.