This afternoon Square Enix launched a new Facebook campaign for Hitman: Absolution which allowed Facebook user to put virtual “hits” on their Facebook friends.
The app quite simply took information from a friend, Agent 47 would then tracks the “friend” down and assassinate the individual with a message on their Facebook page. Users of the app were given reasons for the assassination which included personal insults such as hair colour, their taste in clothes or even if they smelled, among other less tasteful options.
The campaign which was created by BAFTA award winning agency Ralph was obviously not thought through, putting a hit out on anyone whether the tongue was “firmly in its cheek” was highly ill conceived and how this slipped through the net we have no idea.
The subject of bullying on Facebook crops up all the time and there has been many tragic stories of individuals affected by Facebook messages over the past year or so.
As if by magic, we received a statement from Square not long after the app launched which reads:
“Earlier today we launched an app based around Hitman: Absolution that allowed you to place virtual hits on your Facebook friends. Those hits would only be viewable by the recipient and could only be sent to people who were confirmed friends.
We were wide of the mark with the app and following feedback from the community we decided the best thing to do was remove it completely and quickly. This we’ve now done.
We’re sorry for any offence caused by this.”
No shit Sherlock! Square really were wide of the mark with this one but we’re pretty sure the creative agency that came up with this bollocks will still be enjoying the fruits of their labour.
