THQ In Hot Water Over Homefront Marketing

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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THQ In Hot Water Over Homefront Marketing



Spoiler alert: polluting the San Francisco Bay with a bunch of balloons is an easy way to get in trouble with both citizens and the law.

Remember that <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/gdc-2011/2835-EMP-Expert-Supports-Realism-of-Homefront>slightly-bizarre rally that <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108143-THQ-Organizes-Real-World-Rally-to-Promote-Homefront>THQ held yesterday to promote Homefront? Well, it turns out that residents of San Francisco are less-than-thrilled with it because of how the hundreds of balloons that were released wound up floating in the San Francisco Bay.

Folks apparently took to Twitter and Facebook to yell at GameStop, since the company's name appeared on the balloons. GameStop, in turn, claimed that it knew nothing about the balloon release until THQ let them fly. As GamePolitics points out, this logic is straight up bizarre: "we knew yesterday that THQ planned on doing this, so how GameStop didn't have any prior knowledge is pretty baffling."

According to GameStop:

"We understand the concerns consumers have regarding the impact balloons can have on the environment. However, the balloon drop stunt in San Francisco was created by THQ, the publisher of Homefront, and GameStop had no prior knowledge of it. THQ has since informed us that they released soy-based, biodegradable balloons."

THQ also explained that the balloons are totally biodegradable and start breaking apart as soon as they're filled with helium. Of course, that isn't enough for some residents of the Bay Area, like Anne Bauer of The Marine Mammal Center.

"It's still trash," Bauer said. "It's biodegradable over time, but a bird can still get entangled in it right now. A sea lion could be curious about it, bite it and swallow it. It could clog their stomach and cause them to die--right now. Biodegradable takes time to happen."

Also, it turns out that the release might have been illegal, since part of the California Fish and Game code 5652 explicitly forbids littering balloons into the state's waters. Perhaps THQ should <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2794-An-Open-Letter-to-EA-Marketing>ask Extra Credits for some marketing advice ...

Source: <a href=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20038510-52.html#ixzz1FVUM1c2F>C|Net via <a href=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2011/03/03/thq039s-balloon-release-angers-san-francisco-residents>GamePolitics

Image from C|Net

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gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
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Some people just have no sense.

If youre going to spam ballons everywhere, do it where no one will give a shit about the ballons or whats on them. At least you wont be in trouble. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompletelyMissingThePoint]
 

Novania

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Feb 5, 2009
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Well at least it seems they got some attention, though not exactly what they were looking for.

Also, how did GameStop not know about the balloon stunt if THQ would have had to ask them if they could put their name on the balloons in the first place?
 

Rex Fallout

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Oct 5, 2010
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gigastar said:
Some people just have no sense.

If youre going to spam ballons everywhere, do it where no one will give a shit about the ballons or whats on them. At least you wont be in trouble. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompletelyMissingThePoint]
Yeah like... SOUTHWEST KANSAS. Please I would like just one of the many games I like to be promoted near me!
 

Dogstile

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Jan 17, 2009
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vansau said:
since part of the California Fish and Game code 5652 explicitly forbids littering ballons into the stat'e waters.
Erm, what? First one I know is a mistake, but the second one confuses me.

Anyway, that's just silly. I also find it hilarious that the people who made a game about defending "AMERICA!" are in hot water with its citizens
 

Athol

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Sep 15, 2010
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I guess THQ was going for the "It is better to seek forgivness, than to ask permission" approch.
 

Eri

The Light of Dawn
Feb 21, 2009
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Freaking hippies. Always something to complain about.
 

Furioso

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Jun 16, 2009
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THQ and EA should team up to make a super villain team of marketers, THQ can be the sidekick
 
May 5, 2010
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Man, why can't publishers advertise games like NORMAL people?

I don't even get. What are the balloons supposed to signify exactly?
 

McMullen

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Mar 9, 2010
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I bet the geniuses who came up with this stunt still get to keep their jobs too.

I've never had an encounter with a marketer or their "work" that raised my opinion of them. They just seem to me to be some of the most undeserving people who ever got paid for anything.
 

secretsofgames

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Feb 10, 2011
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If the balloons are biodegradable there shouldn't even be an issue. They didn't intend for them to end up in the bay they intended for them to end up in gamers hands. It was reported elsewhere they had game coupons inside the balloons. They just miscalculated things like the wind and weather. All I see is an honest mistake and environmental whackos looking for something to complain about.
 

qbanknight

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Apr 15, 2009
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Still not as offensive as EA's Dante's Inferno stunt, but very idiotic on your part THQ
 

manythings

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Nov 7, 2009
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Hasn't releasing balloons been a crime since the 90's? They even made jokes about it on Beavis and Butthead back in the day... "Happy Birthday Flipper".

Frozen Donkey Wheel2 said:
Man, why can't publishers advertise games like NORMAL people?

I don't even get. What are the balloons supposed to signify exactly?
We're talking about it aren't we? The thing is that whatever idiot had this idea didn't remember people talking about it because they look like assholes doesn't increase sales.
 

OldGus

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Feb 1, 2011
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secretsofgames said:
If the balloons are biodegradable there shouldn't even be an issue. They didn't intend for them to end up in the bay they intended for them to end up in gamers hands. It was reported elsewhere they had game coupons inside the balloons. They just miscalculated things like the wind and weather. All I see is an honest mistake and environmental whackos looking for something to complain about.
I will agree with all of that, but at the same time, why not try that stunt in a heavily populated area farther away from the sea. You know, if the coupons part is true anyway. Because right now for anyone to get the coupons they have to at the least rent a kayak. On the other hand, why not in a state that doesn't have a law banning the releasing of balloons? On the other other hand, why not use an air cannon and tiny parachutes? or have those coupons strapped to those plastic army dudes with the parachutes? On a realizing-my-age-and-how-the-world-has-changed note, do they still make those?