When it comes to 10 controversial advertising attempts, brands sometimes aim for boldness but end up tripping over their own creative shoes. In the relentless race for viral moments, a handful of campaigns have crossed the line from eye‑catching to eye‑rolling, igniting global backlash and forcing companies to rethink their messaging.

Why 10 Controversial Advertising Campaigns Matter

10 Pepsi’s “Live for Now” Protest Ad (2017)

Pepsi’s 2017 “Live for Now” commercial, starring Kendall Jenner, quickly became the textbook example of how not to appropriate a social movement for brand gain. The spot shows Jenner abandoning a glossy photo shoot to join a street protest, only to hand a can of Pepsi to a police officer, seemingly dissolving the tension in a single, sugary gesture. The brand’s intention to align itself with activism backfired spectacularly, as critics argued it trivialized serious issues, especially against the backdrop of the burgeoning Black Lives Matter protests.

The visual of a white supermodel offering a soda to a police officer was interpreted as tone‑deaf, ignoring the very real confrontations marginalized communities face with law enforcement. Social media erupted with memes, criticism, and calls for accountability, prompting Pepsi to pull the ad within 24 hours and issue an apology. Yet the damage lingered, cementing the spot as a cautionary tale of corporate misjudgment.

9 Heineken’s “Sometimes, Lighter Is Better” (2018)

Heineken’s 2018 light‑beer commercial, emblazoned with the tagline “Sometimes, Lighter Is Better,” sparked an immediate firestorm. The ad depicted a bartender sliding a Heineken Light past several people of color before it finally reached a lighter‑skinned woman at the end of the bar. While the campaign aimed to promote the beer’s low‑calorie profile, the phrasing and visual sequence were widely read as an endorsement of skin‑tone preference, igniting accusations of racism and insensitivity.

High‑profile figures, including Chance the Rapper, condemned the spot for its troubling implications, arguing that “lighter” was being used as a euphemism for lighter skin rather than lighter calories. Heineken defended the creative intent but ultimately withdrew the ad and apologized after the backlash proved too severe, leaving a lasting scar on the brand’s reputation.

8 Dolce & Gabbana’s Chinese Ad Campaign (2018)

Dolce & Gabbana’s 2018 Chinese‑focused campaign was intended to celebrate a cultural mash‑up ahead of a Shanghai runway show, yet it quickly turned into a PR nightmare. The visuals featured a Chinese model struggling to eat Italian cuisine with chopsticks, a portrayal many deemed a stereotypical caricature that reduced Chinese culture to a punchline.

The controversy deepened when alleged racist comments from co‑founder Stefano Gabbana surfaced online, inflaming public outrage. Chinese celebrities boycotted the brand, and the highly anticipated Shanghai show was canceled. Despite issuing an apology, D&G suffered significant reputational damage in a market crucial for luxury sales, and the brand continues to grapple with rebuilding trust there.

7 Peloton’s “The Gift That Gives Back” (2019)

Peloton’s 2019 holiday spot, titled “The Gift That Gives Back,” aimed to showcase personal transformation but instead ignited a blaze of criticism. The narrative follows a husband presenting his wife with a Peloton bike for Christmas, after which she documents her fitness journey throughout the year. Viewers interpreted the ad as sexist, suggesting the woman felt pressured to maintain a certain physique to satisfy her husband’s expectations.

Social media users flooded the internet with memes lampooning the premise, arguing the commercial reinforced unhealthy gender stereotypes. The backlash was fierce enough to dent Peloton’s stock price, and the company spent weeks navigating the fallout. Though Peloton defended its intentions, it eventually acknowledged the ad didn’t resonate as hoped.

6 Gillette’s “The Best Men Can Be” (2019)

In early 2019, Gillette released the provocative “The Best Men Can Be” ad, tackling toxic masculinity head‑on by urging men to challenge bullying, sexual harassment, and other harmful behaviors. Inspired by the #MeToo movement, the spot featured men intervening in negative situations and promoting healthier role models.

While some praised the brand for addressing a vital social issue, a sizable contingent of viewers accused Gillette of lecturing its core male audience and politicizing a razor brand. Calls for boycotts surged, with critics claiming the ad unfairly painted all men with a broad brush of culpability. Gillette stood by its message, but the polarized reaction highlighted the risks inherent in brands wading into cultural debates.

5 H&M’s “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” Hoodie (2018)

H&M’s 2018 hoodie advertisement sparked a major uproar after featuring a Black child wearing a garment emblazoned with the phrase “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” Given the historical use of “monkey” as a racial slur against Black people, the campaign was swiftly condemned for its insensitivity.

Outrage rippled across social media, with celebrities such as The Weeknd cutting ties with the retailer. H&M pulled the ad within hours and issued a public apology, acknowledging a failure to consider the cultural implications of the imagery. The incident sparked broader conversations about diversity and cultural awareness within advertising teams.

4 Nivea’s “White Is Purity” Campaign (2017)

Nivea’s 2017 Middle Eastern campaign showcased a white woman dressed in pristine white attire alongside the slogan “White Is Purity.” Intended to promote a deodorant line, the juxtaposition of whiteness with purity instantly ignited backlash online, as many saw the messaging as racially charged and reinforcing outdated beauty ideals.

Social media users highlighted the problematic implication that purity equates to whiteness, prompting Nivea to withdraw the ads and issue an apology. The episode served as a stark reminder of how easily marketing can stumble when cultural sensitivities are overlooked.

3 Gap’s “Love for All” Ad (2017)

Gap’s 2017 “Love for All” campaign sought to celebrate diversity, yet one image sparked widespread criticism. The photograph displayed a group of children from varied racial backgrounds, but a white child was shown resting an arm on the head of a Black child, a pose many interpreted as reinforcing a power‑dynamic stereotype.

The swift backlash accused Gap of insensitivity and poor judgment. The brand promptly removed the contentious image and apologized, explaining the intention was unity, not division. Nonetheless, the incident underscored the importance of thoughtful representation in advertising.

2 Kendall Jenner’s “Fyre Festival” Promo (2017)

Kendall Jenner, alongside other high‑profile influencers, became entangled in the infamous Fyre Festival scandal after promoting the event on Instagram. Marketed as a luxurious Bahamas music experience, the festival collapsed into chaos, leaving attendees with subpar conditions, insufficient food, and no performances.

Jenner, reportedly compensated $250,000 for a single Instagram post, faced intense backlash for endorsing a scam without proper due diligence. The fallout led to lawsuits against the festival organizers and cemented the episode as a cautionary tale about the perils of influencer marketing when authenticity and verification are ignored.

1 Burger King’s “Women Belong in the Kitchen” (2021)

On International Women’s Day 2021, Burger King UK launched a campaign intended to spotlight gender disparity in the culinary world. The headline, however, read “Women belong in the kitchen,” a provocative phrasing that instantly ignited outrage, as many perceived it as a sexist jab rather than a call for equality.

The tweet was swiftly deleted, and the brand issued an apology, but the damage was done: social media users condemned the brand for tone‑deafness, and the intended message of supporting female chefs was eclipsed by the controversy.

Are you aware that there is no Amazon rainforest anymore? Ok, that’s not true. But do you know what is true? There is a form of ethnic cleansing occurring in China right now. Corruption, disease, a growing income gulf, food shortages. How will the public even know about any of this unless clued‑in, virtuous people decide to wear a brightly coloured lapel pin for a month? Many awareness campaigns work wonders to, well, raise awareness. Others, like the entries in this list, backfire. Hard.

top 10 awareness Highlights

10 The Gray Ribbon for Zombie Awareness…not Diabetes, Brain Tumours or Borderline Personality Disorder.

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons and wrist bands and badges, we’re changing the world one piece of apparel at a time, folks! have you seen a yellow ribbon on someone’s sweater recently? Maybe you have. Know what it means? Yup, neither do I. So, look it up. Ah, it could mean one of several things.

Perhaps the best example of this sort of messy messaging is the gray‑coloured ribbon. It could be for Diabetes awareness month, maybe brain tumours. Perhaps the wearer is supporting increased awareness for borderline personality disorder. But, most likely nowadays, they’re raising Zombie Awareness, (check for neck beard and/or barbed wire wrapped baseball bat in their hand to know for sure). Confused? Let’s look at the month of November, what should we be aware of? Movember, right? Prostate Cancer and Men’s Health awareness, no? Well, it’s also Alzheimer’s Awareness month…and No Nut November, promoting abstinence…and COPD Awareness month…and National Novel Writing Month. So plenty to do, along with early Xmas shopping, Guy Fawkes Night (in Britain) and your job and family duties. Just make sure you don a gray ribbon so that people know you also care about the inevitable zombie apocalypse (even though that should be done in May).

9 Justice for Jussie

We’ve all heard the story; Juicy Smulliet was a French actor who was subject of a rather implausible racially‑motivated attack in January 2019 by two white supremacist Nigerian brothers in Chicago (the city known as ‘MAGA country’ since the 1871 fire), prompting a host of his celebrity brothers and sisters to speak out in support of him.

The real story isn’t much less ridiculous, in fact, I’ve barely changed anything except for comedic affect (thank you, Dave Chappelle!) The outpouring of support for the actor, whose testimony was quite obviously inconsistent and implausible, was immediate and telling. There was so much confirmation bias that the whole thing seemed orchestrated, not just the ‘attack’ itself. We can forgive our cognatively challenged, elite but guilt‑ridden celebs, but politicians? No dice, I’m afraid. No sooner had the story gained traction, Democratic Senators Corey Booker and Kamala Harris had described the ‘attack’ as an attempted lynching, Booker going as far as trying to pass a federal anti‑lynching bill. Good timing, eh? And all the while, nobody could locate Kanye West…(Dave Chappelle is the GOAT).

8 Environmentally Friendly Seafood (Bought by the People who Already Know)

This is a sad case of preaching to the choir. Overfishing is a serious issue, whether you are an eco‑warrior or not. So how could one expect to combat this phenomenon? First step, raise awareness. Maybe put an eco‑friendly sticker on products that are from stable seafood populations? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, according to research, the only people who take the time to look for such stickers are people who already care about the cause and, furthermore, already know what to buy and not to buy. Corporation and state‑level measures seem to be a better way o combat the issue in this case. Maybe the arming of supermarket frozen fish aisle workers? Ok, too far.

7 ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ Campaign may have led to Increase in Suicide by Rail

Millenials, when they get to their late sixties, will look back at the song and app ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ like Boomers look back at Abba and Space Invaders at the gaming arcade. It was huge. I downloaded the game and hummed the tune on more than one occasion.

As awareness campaigns go, it was very effective, gaining many prizes and accolades to go with the millions of downloads. The problem? It didn’t quite work the way the Metro Trainsrail franchise in Melbourne, Australia intended it to. Not only was the original claim of a ‘20% decrease in risky behaviour’ a tad suspicious, some evidence suggests that the campaign served to take away the visceral nature, and even glamorize, suicide by rail.

6 The Vaccine that fewer Kids get and the STD they probably will get.

Do you want your child to have a potentially fatal disease? If you answered ‘no’, not only are you sane and I don’t need to call the authorities, but luckily there is probably a vaccine for to immunise your little tyke or tykette from contracting a fatal disease. One very effective vaccine is the HPV vaccine. So why do only around 49% of kids aged 11‑17 in the US receive the vaccine? A bad awareness campaign certainly didn’t help.

When parents hear about this particular vaccine and the diseases it prevents, one question seemed to become a rallying cry against uptake—why do you assume my child is sexually active? The campaign seemed to force parents to face up to a (probably untrue and, to many, morally reprehensible) fact about their beloved little ones—they’re having sex. Along with the usual anti‑vax campaigns, this one can be chalked up as a big loss for the medical community, underlining the dangers of mixing science, politics and values without providing a clear delineation or just focussing on . . . you know . . . the medical side of things.

5 BDS Movement Opposed by President of Palestine

What? That was what must have been the first word uttered by supporters of the ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanction’ movement against the state of Israel when the President of Palestine said he did not support their wide‑ranging, global campaign. Ooft, that’s got to hurt. Well, at least rock legend Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame supports the movement, right? Ok, that doesn’t really help…

Abbas did support a boycott of firms that operate out of the so‑called ‘illegal’ settlements, the disputed territory where Israeli people have built homes. Makes sense. But Abbas, and many other people who oppose “Israeli aggression” and the BDS movement, realise that if Israel were to be brought to her knees economically, any possible outcome would be terrible for Palestine too. Well, it didn’t last. Abbas has since adopted the campaign as an official strategy of his administration. Yet another step towards peace in the Middle East. Wait…

4 The Burger King ‘DGAF’ Meals

Does a ‘Happy Meal’ make you happy? That is one of the points of the beloved fast food offering aimed at kids, I mean, it’s in the name. What about a ‘pissed meal’, fancy one of those? One would expect such a meal to contain a cold chicken sandwich, an empty box of fries, a thumb in your soda and an action figure of Al Gore. I’d be pissed. Burger King’s “Rea Meals” campaign aimed to normalize and raise awareness about mental health. Not schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder or Drug Abuse induced Psychosis, don’t be silly. The campaign wanted to let the world know that people can feel a little ‘DGAF’ sometimes, and that’s OK. It’s tough to imagine a campaign that downplays the very thing it’s trying to boost more than this one. Now shut up and eat your Whopper.

3 Melania Trump’s ‘Be Best’ Campaign for Better Social Media Use…Yeah.

This entry seems like a worse decision than Juicy Smulliet’s (ugh, for legal reasons I’ll say this—suspected) hoax hate‑crime. Melania Trump knows who her husband is, surely? Maybe this campaign to help, in part, improve the nature of social media use is aimed at President Trump and his Tweets. But, to avoid this list being labelled as ‘fake news’, I must immediately retract the previous statement…

All in all, it was a noble cause. In the words of Mrs. Trump herself: “As we all know, social media can be both positively and negatively affect our children, but too often it is used in negative ways…When children learn positive online behaviours early on, social media can be used in productive ways and affect positive change.” Alright, let’s just move on to the next entry.

2 Anything Celebrities are Doing During the Covid‑19 Pandemic

Ooft, I think my cringe bone has broken. Ricky Gervais must be spinning in his, uh, house. The current pandemic has really exposed the tenuous grasp humanity has on everything from law & order to logic, reason and the truth. One thing everyone seems to agree on is that our modern day gentry, Hollywood celebs, are awful at doing anything except what they are famous for. Remember when actors just acted? Singers sang? Me neither. It seems that a Hollywood celebrity can be as famous for speaking out for some cause de jour as they are for whichever movie they’re starring in alongside Dwayne Johnson.

We covered much of this on Top 10 Tone‑Deaf Celebrity Coronavirus Messages That Are Cringey AF, but if you don’t have time to check it out here’s a summary: first off they sang a song, (‘Imagine’ by John Lennon) which advocates for a world without borders and nation states…during a pandemic which, as has been shown, is better combated by closing borders. Along with a slew of instagram stories, YouTube clips, Tweets and TokToks showing celebrities going a little bit loopy during quarantine, we saw the single most cringe‑inducing video in response to the BLM protests. If you can watch the clip above without spasming so hard your retina detaches, you’re a woker man than I, bucko. Or buckette. Nobody is pleased, commentary from all sides of the political compass deriding these clueless elites and their self‑serving faux flagellating. This is not unique to the current period though, they’ve been at it a while. Stop. For the love of Snoopy. Stop.

1 Lush Take on the Police

This is probably the most controversial entry, (yes, even after I’ve talked about vaccines, the dreaded ‘Orange Man’, and the Israel Palestine situation, but stick with me on this). Cosmetics and Toiletry company Lush have a history of taking ethical stances (albeit often self‑determined). They tend to be supportive of environmentalist issues, animal welfare stuff, transgender pronouns, and anything your local Green Party will stand for, so will Lush. You may disagree with their opinions on any given matter, but they do tend to stick to certain principles. On the other hand, they sell bath bombs…why should we care what they think or tolerate being preached to by a corporation who sell Karma Kream body lotion?

The now infamous #SpyCops campaign, raising awareness of honey trap tactics used by police in Britain against environmentalist activists, certainly got people talking. In the main, the loudest voices were in support of the police, viewing the whole campaign as unfair and anti‑police, too general in the messaging. Stats show, however, that Lush’s numbers didn’t take the hit that many commentators expected in light of the negative PR situation; defenders of the company are keen to point out that their numbers went up in the period after #SpyCops. But was that the point? I thought it was about spying cops? Ah, whatever, Karma Kream is lush, I’m off to the powder room.

Marketing is the lifeblood of sales. Unless a brand has already established itself as a dominant force in the market, it will be difficult for the public to react positively to its product launch without some form of marketing.

Sometimes, products perform well in the market solely because of an optimized marketing effort. This is the reason why every industry invests in marketing. In the world of video games, there have been successful and unsuccessful marketing campaigns. What we are, however, not prepared for are bizarre marketing campaigns. These marketing efforts are very strange and far from the usual. Some of these campaigns were so unusual that they attracted criticism and even law enforcement.

Here are ten of the most bizarre video game marketing campaigns.

10 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Issues Fake Terror Alert

The makers of Call of Duty went too far when they live-tweeted that a terror attack was taking place in Singapore. The false claim was only a publicity stunt to introduce their new game Call of Duty: Black Ops III. First, it is very unusual for a video game maker to make false terrorist attack claims, but what we find more bizarre is that this extraordinary publicity stunt was totally unnecessary. Call of Duty was already a successful video game franchise.

The marketing campaign backfired quickly, with many people responding on Twitter that the publicity stunt was in poor taste. Most people would agree that the video game maker could have done better, considering terrorist attacks do take place in the real world, and the fear of terrorism exists all over the world. There is no doubt that this marketing campaign was downright bizarre.^[1]

9 Electronic Arts Causes Gridlock in London with Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

The plot of the game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is straightforward. The protagonist’s aim is to kill the President of Venezuela. Since the plot of the game also involves Venezuelan oil facilities, the marketers of the game actually tied the game to a physical gas station, or maybe they were trying to set the world aflame for real—we may never know for sure. One thing we know is that there was a marketing stunt to promote the game that involved £20,000 worth of free fuel at a single gas station.

The line of cars going to this gas station was very long, and drivers started having altercations. Each driver received £40 of free fuel from the marketers of the game. It didn’t take long before police shut down Electronic Arts’ operations due to the ensuing chaos. In fact, a member of the British Parliament demanded an apology from Electronic Arts, claiming that the video game publishers were trying to cause Venezuelan-style fuel riots in London. Any marketing campaign that gets the attention of the police and triggers a request for an apology from an MP is an unusual one. This is the most considerate way we can tag the promotion.^[2]

The previous week, the same promo seemed to have gone off without a hitch in the U.S. A La Cienega Blvd. gas station in Los Angeles saw actors hired as mercenaries with signs offering the free gas and helping with directing cars.

8 Zynga Vandalizes City Sidewalks with Counterfeit Money

Despite being an online game heavyweight, Zynga let us down with its ridiculous attempt to promote the game Mafia Wars. The company glued fake promotional bills to the sidewalks of Manhattan. This is nothing but vandalization of public property. At one point, the San Francisco City Attorney’s office had to open an investigation into the ignominious act. Besides the counterfeit money Zynga put into circulation, marketers also produced decals depicting gang violence to market the video game. They also glued the bills to the sidewalks in Manhattan, even after receiving a rebuke for the stunt in the City by the Bay.

The Deputy City Attorney called the marketing campaign “illegal and actionable.” Not mincing words about this incident—any marketing campaign that warrants rebuke from the City Attorney’s office is an odd campaign. ^[3]

7 Electronic Arts Stages Protest Against Its Own Game

Just when we think that we have seen the worst of it, we are confronted with another weird video game promotion strategy that we cannot wrap our heads around. This is the second time we find Electronic Arts on our list for a similar reason. In 2009, the game publisher hired a group of 20 fake protesters to demonstrate outside the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles to protest the upcoming game Dante’s Inferno.

The most ridiculous thing about this incident is that these fake protesters found the perfect excuse to stage their protest—religion! According to these jokers, the upcoming game glorified eternal damnation. The fake protesters held up picket signs asking people to “Trade in Your Playstation for a Praystation.” In a strange twist of events, Electronic Arts turned around to admit that the protest was fake and staged by their marketing agency.^[4]

6 Splinter Cell: Conviction Roleplay Leads to Police Intervention

Splinter Cell: Conviction is an action-adventure game that emphasizes stealth; however, the promotional stunt for the game went too far and nearly led to death. In Auckland, New Zealand, a man with bandages on his hand threatened the patrons of a bar with a fake gun, and police were immediately called to the scene. What we find very bizarre about this particular marketing campaign is that even the police officers that responded could not immediately determine that the gun being brandished by the promotions worker was fake until it was retrieved from him.

We find ourselves asking some questions: what if the police had been trigger-happy and fired at sight? What would have happened to the promotions worker? Is death a justifiable end for a video game marketing campaign? No matter how hard we tried, finding an answer wouldn’t be an easy task. But we are certain that this video game promotion effort is far from the usual.^[5]

5 Bethesda Wants to Give a Baby a Dragon-Themed Name

Bethesda is the video game company that produced the game The Elder Scrolls V.Skyrim. The company announced a contest for any child born on the day the game was launched. The catch was the parents had to name the child “Dovahkiin,” which translates to “Dragonborn” in dragon language. If the parents did this, the child would win Bethesda games for life. Coincidentally, parents Megan and Eric Kellermeyer welcomed their baby on November 11, 2011, at 6:08 pm—the same day the game was launched. And as they longed to give their baby a unique name, the contest just happened to have been announced at the most appropriate time.

You can’t deny this might be a marketing campaign taken too far. It is downright bizarre that a company would encourage parents to burden their child with such a name. While we can’t guess exactly what was going on in the minds of Megan and Eric Kellermeyer, whatever was in there was absolutely unusual. Can you hear the teasing on the playground already? However, it shouldn’t surprise you that this campaign has been done before. In 2018, KFC offered a college scholarship for the first child born on Colonel Sanders’s birthday to be named Harland (the Colonel’s first name). So now little Harland Rose will have money when she’s old enough for college. Well, at least it wasn’t Dovahkiin. Poor kid!^[6]

4 Resident Evil 6 Experiments with a Weird Meat

In order to promote Resident Evil 6, Capcom, the company that produced the game, decided to embark on a very unusual promotional tactic. This promo involved the creation of a butcher shop with meat that looked like human flesh. The butcher shop was called “Wesker & Son.” The meat on sale was actually edible animal meat carefully constructed by a food artist to look like human body parts. The butcher shop was open for two days before it closed.

There is another bizarre development relating to the launch of Resident Evil 6. The first marketing stunt involved the creation of fake murder scenes in front of popular media businesses in London.^[7]

3 Acclaim Painted Pigeons for Virtua Tennis 2

Acclaim used a weird and unusual marketing stunt to introduce its game, Virtua Tennis 2, to the world. The company painted homing pigeons with the game’s logo and released the pigeons over Wimbledon. This particular marketing campaign was directed at tennis enthusiasts, considering the chosen venue. Although Wimbledon is already famous for the occasional descent of pigeons, this would be the first time that people would get to see a painted pigeon, especially one that bears a message.

Some will never forget this unusual advertisement stunt. If only video game marketers used their power for good instead of painting the poor, innocent pigeons.^[8]

2 Acclaim Offers to Pay Parents to Name Their Child Turok

Acclaim is here again! The New York-based video game publisher started a contest, offering $10,000 to the first parent to name their newborn child after the dinosaur-slaying hero in its upcoming game Turok: Evolution. In order for the parent(s) to qualify for the prize, the child must be named Turok. There is an understandable reason why we consider this a bizarre form of marketing—the poor child is saddled with the name and has to answer to it. Makes you wonder what’s going on in the minds of these parents.

It’s also worth noting that Acclaim Entertainment as a company has gotten excellent results from such unconventional marketing efforts before this particular move. In the same month that the company announced the “Turok” challenge, it received thousands of responses when it offered £500 and an Xbox game console to anyone in Britain who was willing to change their legal name to Turok. We’ll never know if these people were in love with the name or just keen to take any prize, no matter how small.

Surprisingly, an Acclaim spokesman, Alan Lewis, said that the unusual promotional tactic was the only way to survive in the world of video games because of the stiffening competition. In 2020, a staff writer for VG247 decided to track down the five people who were reported to have received the prize money. After numerous dead ends, he stumbled upon the truth. All five people were actors who had been paid to claim they had changed their name. No one actually had done it. But still, it garnered a lot of buzz at the initial campaign rollout.^[9]

1 Mass Effect 3 Discs Shot into Space

This is the most unusual of them all and deserves the number one spot. Electronic Arts gave fans of the game Mass Effect 3 the opportunity to play the game early in a unique way. The first copies of the game were carried up into space by weather balloons which later released them. People on the ground could track the falling games thanks to attached GPS devices.

Fans could also monitor where the nearest game landed. The targeted cities were New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Berlin, London, and Paris. What a fan needed to do to get any of the copies was to create an EA (Electronic Arts) online account, then track down copies of the game as they fell to Earth using EA’s GPS system. Once the game landed, it became an open race. The first set of fans to get to the landing sites would get all the available copies on a first-come basis. While we commend Electronic Arts for this exceptional display of technological proficiency, we find it downright bizarre that a video game company would send video games to outer space.^[10]