Loyal readers here at Mash Those Buttons may remember THQ’s infamous Homefront stunt that debuted earlier this year, in March, which we had some things to say about. It was assumed that such a stunt, which caused the better part of 10,000 balloons to end up in the San Francisco Bay, would result in some sort of charges against those responsible. Environmental groups, especially those active in the area, were quite angry with the impact that said balloons could potentially have on the nature habitat of the bay.
Truly, it would be a glorious sight to see 10,000 red balloons rising throughout the air. Seemingly an homage to the semi-famous Nena song “99 Luftballons”, a protest song about war, this stunt truly did attract a lot of attention. Unfortunately for THQ, it was negative attention rather than positive. Although a number of people trolling news posts about the stunt seemed to criticize those who condemned it, the majority of people who heard the story did not feel the stunt was worth it.
THQ claimed that the balloons were made to be completely biodegradable, and therefore would not cause damage, but sent cleanup crews afterward just to make sure they didn’t. Spokespersons from the company also made comments afterwards such as, “there has been no history of damage,” which doesn’t sound so convincing. It has not been confirmed by any sources what the balloons were made of, but California Fish and Game code 5652 restricts littering, including the release of balloons into the air: “A San Francisco resolution that urged the city to prohibit the intentional release of balloons into the air says that, among other things, dead turtles have been found washed up on beaches with balloons hanging out of their mouths and that whales are known to die from starvation by ingesting pounds of balloons and other plastics”, remarked Patrick Foy, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game, after it had happened.
Although THQ themselves did not seem to be held responsible for the stunt (except for maybe a lot of bad publicity), the marketing company that advertised the game, TrashTalkFCM was. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board entered into a settlement with the company, who assume full responsibility for the stunt (how noble!). This poor use of judgement is costing the company $7,000, which they have 30 days to pay.
TrashTalkFCM only commented that they “had expected the balloons to rise high enough into the atmosphere that they would disintegrate into tiny pieces, but weather conditions that day caused hundreds of the balloons to drift into the Bay, creating a hazard to birds and aquatic life.” Although it seems like a tragic accident, a simple check into the weather conditions (which are usually available at least a week ahead of time) may have let the company know that it was going to be cloudy and windy that day. Even further, maybe just a simple pre-order gift like every one else has when a game releases should have sufficed.
Since the marketing company took all responsibility for the act, no legal action was taken again THQ or GameStop. The popular video game retailer seemingly had a hand in it some way, being as that the message included with each balloon was a promotion at said retailer. Not that they don’t have enough bad attention as it is.
It seems that justice has been served, and environmentalists and caring people alike can sleep easy tonight. The developer behind Homefront, Kaos Studios, closed in June and any possible sequel to it will be reportedly handled by Crytek. There is no way to tell whether or not this stunt had any influence on the game’s poor sales, but we’re sure it didn’t help.
[Source: The San Francisco Appeal]
[Images via The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Francisco Appeal]
