Putting the stun in stunts and camp in campaigns: The good, the bad and the bizarre
Step one: obtaining a client has been completed, now there is step two: gaining attention for their game or project. So, how does one go about it? Well, you may think back on some examples you have experienced or find some instances of video game promotion or campaigns a few clicks away. This is probably how you found this blog post to try and understand how to lead a successful campaign. Well, some of these stories are not exactly successful, in fact they are the opposite from fake protests to a gory treasure hunt, some campaigns have tried to push the limit to varying degrees of success. This post contains the good, the bad and the bizarre in video game stunts.
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The good (in my humble opinion)
Buzzman takes you on a deadly holiday in their Far Cry 6 campaign.
To promote the sixth installation of Ubisoft's Far Cry series, Buzzman created an campaign that on first glance seems to be a typical holiday brochure featuring idyllic beaches (that on closer inspection has a gunman lounging beneath a palm tree), some ripe fruit (with a grenade for an explosive taste) and a refreshing drink with a beautiful scenery in the background (that also has a suspicious cloud of fire and smoke.) This lets you know there is something slightly off with the fictional island of Yara, set off the coast of Cuba, which is under the dictatorship of El Presidente played by Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito.
Compilation or shorts to promote the game.
Other forms of promotion included a set of short videos that followed a similar theme with the tagline Découvrez l'île de Yara (translated to Discover Yara Island) the ominous imagery contrasted with the beautiful scenery displayed left audience thinking about the campaign and how it delivered its message quickly and effectively. It used the common imagery associated with holiday and added a sinister twist.
Source: Famous Campaigns article by Joe Colquhoun
Eau De Plumber smelled of success for PR Firm, We are Bope.
Video game retailer, Game, approached the PR firm, We are Bope, to gain attention by adding their own spin on the infamous Christmas dinner in a can. To deliver on a visual, comedic and creative campaign, Bope collaborated with a 3d artist to design a bottle that not only looked like it could be found at high-end boutiques but also resembled a familiar gaming mascot. Eau De Plumber boasted that it was infused with plumbery scents (no, I do not know what that is either and I am not sure I want to.) While, the smell might be off putting, the quirky story certainly was not as it was picked up by specialised outlets like IGN, GameReactor, Eurogamer, NME, over a weekend due to the comedic nature and using a beloved gaming icon (though they did not rely heavily on the character to try and avoid Nintendo's wrath). The accessibility of social media and online news sites led to 120+ news pieces, 150 clippings and 112 million in circulation.
We are Bope's website states there was a 300% on returning of investment and an AVE of approximately 770,000 pounds. This was not the only video game perfume that Game offered as first person shooter franchise Call of Duty was also given the fragrant treatment with their own signature scent named FPS ( First Person Scent) This bottle was to look like a grenade rather then the signature hat and moustache of the Italian plumber. However, it seems that We are Bope were not the masterminds behind the unconventional grenade fragrance.
Source: We are Bope and Gamerant
OXO Tower lights up to promote Playstation's launch
When you've got a console to release you have to go big and what is bigger than the OXO Tower in London? To promote their PlayStation 4 console being released, the iconic symbols (square, circle, cross and triangle) were installed and made history as the first time the towers had been altered in 85 years. The campaign was created with Fever PR, with support of Talon Outdoor and their partnership with Curb Media. It took 4 days to set up with 6 workers to install the LED lights, The effort was worth it as it led to quite a lot of attention from media outlets to casual visitors who snapped photos to post online. It led to 14.3 million views on Twitter in less than 24 hours.
A video showcasing the development of the campaign
This was not the last time Sony had taken over London because when the PlayStation 5 was released they decorated the Oxford Circus tube station by renaming stations such as Miles End in reference to upcoming releases like Spider-Man and placing the symbols on signs for just 48 hours.
Source: Famous Campaign article by Jack Field, Fever PR post and article by John Glenday of the Drum.
The Bad
Hitman’s Facebook campaign is not a hit
To promote the release of Hitman: Absolution, people were encouraged to put “hits' ' on their friends through the “Hire Hitman” website (which was only active for around a few hours). The campaign was apparently created by creative agency Ralph. These hits were posted on the target's timeline. So, what were the egregious offences or identifiable traits ? Well, “big ears'', “awful makeup”, "annoying laugh", "muffin top", "hairy back", "big gut" and "strange odour" to name a few and those were only the slightly tamer ones. The recipient would receive a video that showed photos from their account along with the reason and traits. The campaign was lambasted by online outlets especially as cyberbullying had become an rising issue. The publisher Square Enix posted a statement:
"We were wide of the mark with the app, and following feedback from the community we decided the best thing to do was remove it completely and quickly. This we've now done. We're sorry for any offence caused by this."
Writer Curtis Silver wrote in an blog post that was turned into an article for Wired:
"I can't imagine anyone playing a game as such would be offended. However, with it being open to anyone, making it easy to send a pre-programmed threat, well, that's just terrible marketing."
He continues: "I understand that point: if I was to send this to one of my gamer friends it'd be hilarious. But let's assume for a second that a 14 year old who is a gamer sends this to another 14 year old who is not a gamer. Then what? Is it a credible threat? Or are both sides laughing? With bullying, you are never sure what the outcome will be, which is why it is such a touchy issue."
Source: Wired article by Curtis Silver, Games Industry Biz article by Dan Pearson and PCgamer article by Phil Savage
EA Sin to Win was a sin and it did not win with critics of the campaign.
All publicity is good publicity unless you’re EA trying and failing to promote their 2007 game Dante’s inferno with their Sin to Win campaign. It’s exactly what it says, promoting the various sins associated with the literature. EA faked a protest that was happening at E3 with supposed religious protesters waving picket signs. This led to controversy with Christian groups who believe they were using outdated stereotypes.
They then followed it up with a booth babe promo at comic con that was accused of objectifying the women. People were encouraged to take photos with the women for a chance to win "a sinful night with two hot girls, a limo service, paparazzi and a chest full of booty." EA would respond to the controversy by explaining that the sinful night was actually a "chaperoned VIP night on the town with the Dante's Inferno reps, all expenses paid, as well as other prizes. " In the statement, they apologised for any offence and confusion caused.
Source: Kotaku articles by Owen Good and a blog post by BigGamesMachine,
Duke Nukem's PR needs PR
The game didn’t get the feedback you hoped for? Well try as we might to persuade others to enjoy the product that may not always be the case. However, posting on Twitter an emotional rant that could be seen as threatening to blacklist those who gave the game a negative review is not the way to garner favour with critics either. While this may not be a direct campaign, it can still be detrimental to your client, product and future relations with other sectors in the industry. The relationship between a journalist and PR agent is symbiotic as we need them for coverage like they need us for early access and news stories.
However, Redner group, the PR firm for Duke Nukem Forever, did not seem to understand the concept of burning bridges when they posted to their Twitter that any outlet that posted negative reviews of Duke Nukem Forever would not receive future games.
The tweet said: "Too many went too far with their reviews...we are reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn't based on today's venom." They also tweeted: "Bad scores are fine. Venom filled reviews...that's completely different,"
This led to Jim Redner, the man behind the firm, issuing a statement apologising and saying everyone is titled to their opinions and that it was not his intention to bully anyone and his response was an overreaction. He said to Ben Kuhera, writer for arstechnica:
"I believe reviews are completely subjective. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion and opinions are never wrong. It is not my intention to bully anyone. I overreacted. I just voiced an opinion. I have poured my heart into this project and I just want it to succeed."
Redner would be fired because of this by publisher 2K Games yet did deny that he was blacklisting journalists. He would explain that it was a selection process and not blacklisting according to his guest column at Wired:
"Hopefully all PR professionals make their selections based on any and all data available. They should weigh past coverage, personal information gathered from conversations and past dealings."
He continued: "I personally have sent first-person shooter games to one editor knowing that he likes FPS games, but then not sent him a copy of a game based on our national pastime because I know he finds baseball boring. That's not blacklisting. It's a selection process."
2k responded that they did not respect nor share the views of Redner: "We have always maintained a mutually-respectful working relationship with the press and do not condone his actions in any way.”
Source: A blog post by BigGamesMachine, Kotaku articles by Brian Crecente and Michael McWhertor, an article by Ben Kuchera of arstechnica and the guest column for Wired by Jim Redner
The Bizarre
God of War 2's launch party has the spotlight stolen by a dead goat.
Launch events and parties are not a new concept in public relations, it is a good way to meet potential buyers, influencers and journalists for more coverage or to inform them of the game. However, due to how common they are, you may need to stand out. While creativity is a vital skill to garner attention, try not to make the same mistake as what Sony did to promote the sequel of God of War.
The Greek themed action series could provide a multitude of inspiration for an event to shock and stun attendees but no one could predict that a dead goat borrowed from a butcher shop would be the main star of the controversy. There were rumours that attendees were "invited to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach." The Daily Mail was the first to break the story back in 2007 despite allegedly not being in attendance, but obtaining pictures from the Official UK playstation magazine, after the controversy 80,000 copies were recalled, which in turn most of the facts were from a promotional flyer for the event not the event itself.
A video discussing the controversy
In a statement, not only did the tech giant announce they were doing an internal enquiry into the event, they also had disputed some of the information, such as the goat being killed for the event or being served food from its carcass, and apologised by admitting the event was in "poor taste" (no pun intended.) They said:
"In keeping with the theatrical nature of the event, the attendant media were invited to eat a bowl of food that purported to be from the animal - but in fact was a cooked traditional Greek dish."
They also clarified that the writer of the Playstation magazine article had not attended the event and from the 20 journalists that were invited, none were from the UK. A spokesperson said:
"The writer of this article did not attend the event and has portrayed the theatre as a literal occurrence,"
They continued: "The article in UK Official PlayStation Magazine (OPSM), from which the Mail on Sunday article was sourced, was written by a journalist who did not attend and done on the basis of the invitation for the event, which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance - the journalist chose to take it as fact!"
Source: A video by Prudent Gaming, an Engadget article by L. Kiietzmann and a Kotaku article by Patrick Klepek.
MonumentPR hosts a macabre treasure hunt for Resident Evil 5 launch
What do you expect to find in a treasure hunt? gold coins?, chocolate gold coins?, human remains? Ok, maybe not the last one depending on how awful the treasure hunt is. However, in 2009, 100+ people signed up for and 50 of which partook in a macabre event in central London which consisted of finding legs, arms, torsos and heads (though no mention of shoulders, knees and toes) that were scattered around on window ledges and in rubbish bins and returning them to the finish line at Westminster Bridge.
MonumentPR was tasked with the goliath task of promoting the fifth instalment in Capcom's zombie franchise, Resident Evil. However, this bizarre campaign took an even more unexpected turn when body parts, one head, two torsos, and six limbs and some chicken liver, went missing. This led to a Monument spokesperson issuing a statement on the matter to clarify that it was not a stunt.
A video by participants fo the treasure hunt
The treasure hunt was won by Steve Long, a 26 year-old IT consultant, who received a holiday for two to Africa (where 'Resident Evil 5' is set). Which is probably better than the chocolate coins. Despite the limb thievery and concerned passer-bys alerting the police, it led to coverage in the Guardian and the game itself selling over 7 million copies. They would also try to push boundaries once again by promoting a butcher shop (Wesker & Sons) with meat that was made to resemble human body parts.
Source: A post by gamemarketingcampaigns, an article on campaignlive by Ben Bold, press release found on responsesource.
Skyrim tries to set a trend for baby names
It is quite common to name a child after a video game or pop culture character, Robin Williams' daughter Zelda springs to mind. Bethesda decided to try and capitalise on this to promote the long anticipated launch of Skyrim: Elder Scrolls. They offered a challenge, if a baby was born on the same day as the release date of the game (November, 11, 2011) and the parents named their child Dovakiin, which is the name given to the main character which is translated to Dragonborn, in return, they would offer a prize pack. The pack would contain a steam key granting free access to every Zenimax/Bethesda game for life.
What is even more absurd is that someone actually took them up on their offer, Dovahkiin Tom Kellermeyer was born to Megan and Eric at 6.08pm (sadly not 11:11.) The parents defended their decision on their blog by stating:
"We've toyed with Dovahkiin and the ramifications of naming a child that name, and that name being based on a video game character (however awesome), and what impact that would have on him.
"But the more I thought of it, the more I settled on Dovahkiin, contest or no. It helps that we told all our friends and family and very few are opposed to the idea. My mom thought it was neat!"
Bethesda responded to the couple with a statement: "Be it the real world or the game worlds we create, we wish young Dovahkiin the best in all his adventures. And if Alduin ever reaches this realm, we'll be in touch."
Source: Eurogamer article by Robert Purchese, Digital Spy article by Matthew Reynolds and blog post by Jade Griffin (presumably Megan Kellermeyer)
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So, there you have it: the weird and wonderful of gaming campaigns. At least give some of the entries kudos for creativity no matter how extreme it was. If you remember any campaigns that should have been an entry, follow the blogs Twitter and Instagram to let me know! (or don’t, up to you.)
Next blog post: The influence of influencers: why they are vital for gaming PR |Tuesday 29th November 2022|
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