An odd black box anonymously delivered. What would you do?
Over the years there has been some pretty stupid PR stunts for game launches and UbiSoft PR in Australia have caused a bit of a scare with this one.
As gamers we know all about the Watch Dogs release yesterday but not everyone will be following games quite so closely, especially if you’re a member of the newsroom at Ninemsn in Australia.
Yesterday a “suspicious letter” arrived at the newsroom which asked a reporter to “check your voicemail”. Oddly enough the reporter apparently didn’t have a voicemail (how????). Along with the letter was a black safe which had a pin number taped to the side. The staff entered the number and the box started to beep but didn’t open.
After calling around other newsrooms to find out if they had received a similar package, which they hadn’t, the staff decided to call the bomb squad and everyone was sent home while the package was dealt with by the professionals.
Ninemsn editor Hal Crawford told Mumbrella: “This is definitely the other side of the line in terms of what it’s safe for a PR company to send anonymously to a newsroom. The thing was black, heavy and slightly creepy”.
So what was inside? A copy of Watch Dogs with a baseball cap and beanie hat. I bet the bomb squad were relieved, if not a little pissed off.
Nobody knows if it was UbiSoft’s own PR or an agency who organised the stunt but in this day an age it wasn’t the brightest move.
Thanks NNooo.
