Splinter Cell Stunt Goes Stupidly Wrong

[Ekonk]

lollerskates, that's the worst publicity stunt I ever heard.

OR PERHAPS IT WAS SUPPOSED TO FAIL AND IT'S WORKING WHERE IS MY TINFOIL HAT

 

[Scrythe]

Ubisoft thinks their marketing department could rival EA Games?

Clearly

 

[Boba Frag]

A man doing a spy crawling act on a building side would be a publicity stunt.

Pulling out a gun, even fake, in a group of people? That's Darwin Award material.

Absolutely!! Fucking hell, that was retarded. Would it have killed them to have a guy dressed like Fisher pop out of a ventilation shaft during a press conference? Or abseil off a building for a crowd, taking the spokesman "hostage"?

I'm amazed that actor guy didn't get the shit knocked out of him.
Wow, who would have thought people don't like guns (however fake looking) being pointed at them?

 

[dochmbi]

Being a moron isn't a crime in New Zealand, however, so when all was said and done the police merely cautioned two men at the scene

How is it not a crime in this instance? Waving around a gun and threatening people, even if it's a fake gun and there are no ill intentions involved is still a crime where I come from.

 

[Jaranja]

How the hell could they have thought that would've been a good idea and no-one would be alarmed?

Fail pubilicity stunt is fail.

I think you're missing the point.

They probably got more publicity from it "failing".

 

[Logic 0]

This is why we need better marketing excutives.

 

[lacktheknack]

How could have this have gone right? what was their plan? To hold people at gunpoint and hand out fliers?!

1. Send armed gunman into town

2. Threaten people

3. ????????

4. PROFIT!

Thank you, that was the most succinct meme I've ever seen.

 

[ethaninja]

Haha dumbassess. It remindes me of when I was a kid and my mate was walking around with a BB gun. He didn't think he would have gotten in trouble for it. What a moron.

 

[Danpascooch]

Still, all PR is good PR.

Not really

Same as with RapeLay.
Barely anyone knew it even existed.
Then a media outrage about the game occurred.
And the game's sales sky-rocketed for a time.

Exposure = good.
Even if said exposure is negative.

I'd be interested to hear how you know the games sales skyrocketed.

 

[Audioave10]

Its a wonder that dummy wasn't shot with a "real" gun.

 

[joshuaayt]

Whoever dreamt that one up should be marked and executed.

That'd be a pretty good publicity event.

 

[fanklok]

If they had a guy that looked that Sam Fisher kick the shit out of him then it would have been an OK stunt, but jsut having some crazy guy walk into a bar and wave a gun around isn't a good idea ever.

 

[Andronicus]

On the bright side, everybody went straight to their local games retailer afterwards to preorder their copy of Splinter Cell: Conviction and have a good chuckle about the whole misunderstanding!

...is what the people who organised the whole mess were probably thinking. What a bunch of idiots.

 

[Booze Zombie]

How was this supposed to promote Conviction?

Would some guy dressed like Sam Fisher just pop in and whack the guy around the head?

 

[DEATHROAD]

When they were talking about this did no one say "You know,this could backfire" I mean seriously.. can you imagine whoever pitched this pitching it:

"Okay guys, ive got a great idea, Lets dress someone up like a phyco, give him a realistic looking fake gun, and send him into a bar to threaten people!"

"BRILLIENT!"

I mean come on, EVEN if people had known it was a fake gun, if i was in a bar trying to enjoy a drink and some asshole comes in pointing a fake gun at me, it certainly wouldent make me want to buy his game, and would most likely end in a ass kicking.

 

[MGlBlaze]

I can't believe these people seriously thought that would be a good idea. I think pretty much EVERYONE ELSE EVER knows this was incredibly ill-advised.

 

[Therumancer]

I missed this when it first got put up.

Strictly speaking I feel there must be more to this story because honestly I'm not sure how this could have helped the game even if everything had gone "right". Not enough people involved.

Of course it's always possible it DID go right, because despite looking like idiots, their name and the game's name are out there now and it didn't cost them much money to do in all likelyhood.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

That little act of stupid is now given the *facepalm*. I mean seriously if you didn't want people thinking you were serious then use a gun with an orange tip on the end.

Good point. Could you imagine if this had been done in a gun-happy place in the US?

I can, actually. Chances are that someone in the crowd would be packing, the guy who pulled the stunt would have been (appropriately) mistaken for a mass-shooter, and Mr. Sam Fisher wannabe would have several small-caliber holes in his torso.

Edit: Oh fiddlesticks, I've been Ninja'd

 

[Doomsday11]

How was this even a stunt really I don't get how this advertises the game at all the guy wasn't dressed like fisher,didn't us and acrobatic moves and didn't even use stealth I honestly don't see how this was anyway relatible to the game.

 

[13752]

A PR stunt is an event designed to draw as much attention to something as possible. Seeing as this page has 128 people commenting on it and news coverage, it was actually successful, and I doubt the firm has any regrets.

Think about it. Do they get publicity from a guy waving a gun in a bar of around 50 people, or from the millions arguing and the free news coverage?

Think about it people.