Gravestones Advertising Video Games?

An anonymous reader writes "In an insane bid to drum up publicity The Guardian tells of Acclaim Entertainment who are seeking to enlist the help of the recently bereaved, well the poorer ones anyway, to help promote their latest game." My favorite comment is a spokesman for the Church of England who said they wouldn't allow it saying "There was enough fuss with plastic flowers in churchyards." Anyway, I just found this really surreal.

Sad...

[clambert]

This really won't take off. Cemeteries will most likely put a ban on the gravestone advertising, as it would really detract from the visiting experience -- even if it wasn't on the gravestone you're visiting.

Of course those ads will never be useful

[Edmund Blackadder]

If Acclaim was able to put their adds on gravestones they wouldnt get much benefit out of it.

People that go to graves are usually not young and even if they are they usually associate the experience with sad feelings.

Who would want to be reminded of that when playing a game?

Thats one of those marketing tricks, where the purpose of the whole excercise is to get denied and get in the papers.

It's True

[Oculus Habent]

Good taste has officially died and has been replaced with morbid curiosity.

Re:Of course those ads will never be useful

[DeadMeat (TM)]

If Acclaim was able to put their adds on gravestones they wouldnt get much benefit out of it.

You kidding? They're already getting press coverage for their game!

Talk about one hell of a publicity stunt (no pun intended). Even if they don't ever get a single ad actually placed on a tombstone, they're already ahead.

Advertising on Grave Stones = Repulsive

[machogogo]

I find this story repulsive and, not surprisingly, insensitive to death. Looks like the office junkies are as desensitized as most of North Americans are. Isn't TV and website advertisement enough to drive their game into gamers' heads?

A spokeswoman for the company... said: "It's a dark, gory type of game and we thought it was appropriate to raise advertising to a new level."

Who is the target audience here? I wonder how many people are going to say to themselves "Wow, I think I'm going to buy ShadowMan 2 now!" after going to see their mother's or father's grave who passed away a few years back, possibly from being shot to death.

Ya, economy is low and I don't blame Acclaim for trying to be original, but this is plain ignorance. I'd like to kick the person in the ass who thought up this absurd idea, and two kicks to the CEO or whoever put this plan into gear.

Advertisements draw attention to themselves and take it away from other things. When you take attention away from something as personal as mourning the death of a loved one, it's simply rude. There are times to buy a new game and there are times for mourning. They should never intersect.