Modern Warfare 2 Offends… Again
First a massacre and now this...Published 02/11/2009 at 10:35 by Gastos84
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If you haven’t heard childish insults whilst online, then you are probably in the minority. It’s safe to say that one of the biggest complaints whilst playing against people from all over the globe is the use of offensive and stupid insults when things don’t go people’s way. So, what have Infinity Ward done with their latest viral campaign for Modern Warfare 2? They have seemingly encouraged it!
In a spoof Public Service Announcement published on YouTube, Infinity Ward thought using a spoof sponsor called ‘Fight Against Grenade Spam’ would be funny. You don’t need to be a genius to work out what that spells when turned into an acronym. Needless to say they have now removed the video from their YouTube channel after facing a backlash from the more sensible gamers. It wasn’t just the use of this offensive term that drew criticism however; the PSA also featured a US sports personality using more offensive terms to describe those who use grenades in excess.
Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling utilised his Twitter account to address the concern by saying:
I think the core gag is great, the end is a bit too far from the intent of the joke & can appreciate the concerns. Pulled.
Fair play to them, they did pull the video from the site, but this has been replicated many a time and is no way gone from the video-sharing behemoth.
You can see the video below so that you can make your own mind up. I personally think the gag is so blatent that IW had to have known exactly what they were doing. Just when I was starting to think the online world was becoming a more friendly place. Still what is the saying? ‘All press is good press’…
Source: gi.biz
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
Joe | 02/11/2009 10:46
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What!? There is something offensive in that video? I think society needs to get a grip and focus on the actual -important- things in life… It’s not like he ends it with ‘c**ts’… People are just over sensitive these days and scramble at the opportunity to whinge and whine about something… You see far more offensive things on day to day tv… If you don’t like people in game using such terms and being derogatory towards you or others, use the mute button!
carlosfilippsen | 02/11/2009 11:21
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Totally agree. Also, I personally didnt find anything offensive on that video and I dont think that it encourages people to insult others in an online game. Anyway, that is just my opinion.
benny boy | 02/11/2009 16:05
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Just in case you didn’t know, the video poseted above doesn’t actually include the “offensive” bit of the video at the end.
UltimateBox | 02/11/2009 17:08
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The so-called offensive bits just a body flying downwards.
I dont get it :/
3shirts | 02/11/2009 10:49
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Not offensive, just lame
Joe | 02/11/2009 10:50
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Yeah, it was a bit unimaginative wasn’t it…
bajere | 02/11/2009 12:02
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it didn’t even get a smile from me…should be pulled for the simple fact its shit!
djdustb | 02/11/2009 10:51
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I don’t really see anything offensive with that at all, yes the acronyn is an term that really shouldn’t be thrown around too much but unless I missed something, it is not mentioned in the clip you added.
benny boy | 02/11/2009 16:07
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Here’s a better video. The one above doesn’t show the end of the original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXbQjyL2HZU
Shlomi1995 | 02/11/2009 10:58
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What was the offensive part? When he said *pussies*?
JamboGT | 02/11/2009 10:58
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I believe the main concern was with the FAGS bit. Maybe the reaction was a little over sensitive.
What I find curious is them alienating half their fanbase! (the nade spammers I mean)
FRUIT0FDOOM | 02/11/2009 11:00
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That video itself was crap but I personally didn’t find it offensive. Here’s a thought: If people are complaing about “too many” random grenades – restrict each player to just “one” grenade? I’m a genius and saved you spending money on making crap adverts/videos to highlight this.
Gastos84 | 02/11/2009 11:04
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Yeah my thoughts too. Whilst I didn’t find it offensive in the true sense of the word, I don’t like the fact that they are just encouraging those that already act like nobs online to carry on doing so.
BadBoyBoogie | 02/11/2009 11:27
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Completely agree also!!!
UltimateBox | 02/11/2009 17:09
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People always spawn with 1 grenade, except from using a perk that gives them 2 more.
RadioactiveMouse | 02/11/2009 11:08
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I agree with the last part of the article. Any publicity to a game like this only serves to heighten the anticipation of the games release. They could have come up with a better gag though.
Fresh191 | 02/11/2009 11:13
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Thought the Vid was really funny and if it has a stab at the FAGS that lob grenades across the map in hope of a random kill then power to it!
Gastos84 | 02/11/2009 11:18
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So let me get this straight; you’re not only condoning the use of the term ‘fag’ as an insult, you just used it in your comment. The acronym from IW actually stood for ‘Fight Against Grenade Spam’ which makes no sense in the context that you wrote it. This is exactly the problem with the viral.
Bilbo_bobbins | 02/11/2009 11:28
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lol
cc_star | 02/11/2009 11:21
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A bit lame really, but MW2 keeps getting it’s column inches.
pOOpInFlames | 02/11/2009 11:37
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I cant wait to get a HUGE amont of random kills lobbing my grenades!
Roarster | 02/11/2009 11:40
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There’s no way they didn’t realise this would cause a stir. Pretty poor if you ask me, and makes it clear that IW pretty much fit the arrested developed male stereotype that seem to make up the majority of their online players.
And I can’t help but find it ironic that they complain about grenade spam while COD4 single player is hugely guilty of it (especially on the hardest difficulty levels).
double-o-dave | 02/11/2009 11:48
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Its done in a joking way, its not offensive. If it was done in a serious way then it would be. People cry about things far too easily nowadays.
At the end of the day its just pretty lame, so much so that I’m not even gonna bother commenting!
skibadee | 02/11/2009 12:23
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lame
Roynaldo | 02/11/2009 12:27
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Offensive??? I found it bloody funny.
bunimomike | 02/11/2009 12:36
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That wasn’t remotely funny so my only question would be to Robert Bowling and potentially what the video ended with “What the f***?”. Useless vid.
cc_star | 02/11/2009 12:48
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Publicity, publicity and more publicity.
This is also the reason I think the massacre scenes appear in the game, especially if you have the option to skip them it shows they’re not essential to the storyline so could be considered gratuitous.
bunimomike | 02/11/2009 12:54
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That’s the smarter publicity stunt. Show off some gratuitous scene but then back it up with a “there’s warnings on the box… in the game… you can skip it!” so they have their get-out-of-jail card right there but with all the delightful hoo-haa in the press to bolster attention and sales. Cunning swines.