Oops! Free Petrol Stunt Backfires on EA

by Bukola Ekundayo on September 8, 2008

in Gaming News

EA’s free petrol stunt worked a little too well. EA was forced to abandon the promotion for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames after it caused gridlock in Finsbury Park, north London. In Mercenaries 2 you play a mercenary in Venezuela where  fuel is used as a currency. The promotion was meant to hint at  elements of the game’s design. EA had planned on giving away the petrol to celebrate the game’s release last Friday. The free petrol line opened up at 6:30am, but ended around 11am after outrage from the local community. I’m sure some folks had a hard time getting to work in the midst of the traffic. I still think this was an awesome idea for a marketing campaign. Maybe next time EA will choose a better location.

(Via Gamesindustry.biz)

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Tagged as: ea, ea games, free petrol stunt, london, marketing to gamers, mercenaries 2, Video Game Advertising

  • Shame on the local community for not recognizing a great marketing stunt. ;)
  • I never thought I would see the day when people are complaining about free petrol (gas).
  • This is hysterical... I love it when the games industry develops marketing "stunts" to move units. This most notably received a lot of buzz because of the current gas crisis and ties in wonderfully with one of the game's major sub-plots (the addiction to oil/fuel)... but I wonder what the ROI will be for EA. Sure they have deep pockets, but that seemed like an expensive stunt for negligble gain.

    Reminds me of the GoD Games (Gathering of Developers) and the stunts they would pull at E3 events of yesteryear including hiring strippers, midgets, and giving people a chance to wrestly with Gary Coleman...
  • Yeah I think the industry is drunk on these marketing gimmicks. I think EA's stunt was well-intentioned but poorly executed. GoD game stunts are just pathetic. Who would sign up to wrestle with Gary Coleman?
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