THQ thought that releasing red balloons during the Game Developers Conference in San Franciso, California would be a great way to celebrate their new game, but local residents were not please. The problem? Once the helium started to escape from the hundreds of balloons released by THQ they began to fall into the San Francisco Bay, which could potentially harm the wildlife. The video game itself is set in 2027, and the People’s Army of Korea are invading the US. While the red balloons and the theme of communism didn’t go over the heads of spectators several environmentalist groups in California say that the stunt was nothing short of irresponsible.
Homefront is set to be released in the United States on March 15th, but it seems that THQ is going to have to do more damage control than promoting. What the game developer did not expect were the strong winds and adverse weather conditions that caused the red balloons to fly straight into the ocean instead of towards the crowd that had amassed. The event took place in front of the video game retailer store Gamestop, and THQ printed coupon codes on the sides of the balloons released. Thinking that gamers would be visually captivated by the publicity stunt, THQ had no idea that virtually none of their consumers would be able to utilize codes. So far, the game developers has failed to release an official apology but as environment groups continue to put on the pressure THQ may be unable to continue to make excuses.
