10 Most Controversial Video Game Marketing Campaigns Of All Time
9. Acclaim Encourages Speeding For Burnout 2
Back in 2002, to promote the upcoming Burnout 2, developers at Acclaim decided to push themselves as a cooler alternative to other games in the racing sub-genre.
Rather than letting the their sequel speak for itself though (which was all they needed to do, because it was phenomenal, by the way), the studio put out an ad offering to pay the fine for British speeders if they were caught over the limit on the day of the game's release.
Obviously encouraging players to go out and mimic the frenzied driving of the series received virtually instant backlash, the British Department of Transportation demonising the ad for "encouraging people to speed and break the law".
Rather than backing down when confronted about it, Acclaim used the excuse that they weren't trying to promote speeding, but rather trying to "ease the financial pain" that speeders were suffering from in the UK.
Needless to say, the justification didn't really fly with the people offended.