10 Video Game Promotional Tactics That Backfired HORRIBLY

10. Burnout 2 Tells Players To Speed

In the early 2000s, Acclaim Entertainment were continuing to find themselves in financial trouble. Despite video game successes, they weren’t bringing in the profits against their outgoings. The logical thing to do was craft a sequel to the highly-praised Burnout and to advertise it in an eye-catching manner.

To celebrate Burnout 2: Point of Impact, Acclaim declared that they would be willing to pay for any speeding tickets in the UK given on the release date of their upcoming crash simulator. Understandably, the UK Government wasn’t all too happy about Acclaim essentially telling its population to freely drive recklessly and the concept created quite the stink in the media.

Following the negative reaction to this, Acclaim changed their mind and cancelled the promotion before the game’s release date. One has to wonder if the company would merely pay off speeding tickets or if they’d be willing to pony up for any medical or funeral costs that this stunt could’ve inevitably led to.

You’d think it would be obvious to most but speeding in video games is fun purely because real people can’t get crushed or mangled.

This campaign was the last of a string from Acclaim - others asked players to name their newborns Turok or advertise Shadow Man 2 on the gravestones of the recently deceased - before the company closed its doors in 2004.