“Homefront” came and went as a video game, largely because it was boring and pretty stupid. For those unfamiliar, the crux of the plot is that about ten years from now, North Korea somehow develops a functional military and invades the U.S. Unfortunately for them, we can defeat their troops by jumping on them. So, a brave Italian plumber…
Just kidding, the game’s not nearly that awesome. Realizing they had a major stinker on their hands, THQ put the pedal to the floor for marketing, and among the stunts, 10,000 red balloons were released at a game development conference. In San Francisco.
Yes, they hate cell phones in Frisco (and yes, we’re calling it that just to tick San Franiscans off), but they do like birds and fish, and balloons in the water, where most of them ended up, tend to hurt birds and fish. So, TrashTalkFCM, the marketing agency who dreamed up this stunt, is coughing up $7000 in fines.
Somewhere, Kim Jong Il is laughing.