Terrorist attack as PR stunt

Residents of Singapore were very shocked and troubled in response to Tweets send out by the official account of Call of Duty, saying that there was a huge terrorist attack in Singapore. Twenty tweets were keeping the people posted about these events. Afterwards it turned out that this 'attack' was a staged PR stunt for the game Call of Duty. The official Twitter account of Call of Duty send out tweets about the dramatic events and kept the residents of Singapore updated about the proceedings of these events. The Twitter account of Call of Duty counts 2,8 million followers that believed that there was a terroristic attack going on in Singapore. The residents of Singapore were advised to stay inside and close all doors and windows. To make the stunt even more realistic, the game changed the picture of their Twitter account to a picture saying ‘Current Events Aggregate’ and used the slogan ‘Where we bring you real news’.

 They started the fuss by sending out a tweet saying that there was an explosion in Singapore:

That was followed by multiple descriptions of an emerging conflict. Within an hour, the account tweeted this:

It went on to describe shots being fired at civilians, a convoy of military trucks with people in Hazmat suits, and the establishment of a quarantine zone. Roughly two hours after the last 'update' about the 'situation,' the feed reverted to Call of Duty and admitted the previous tweets had been a promotion for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

You can find the rest of the tweets they send here. The tweets about this ‘attack’ lead to a lot of angry reactions by the public. The public did not appreciate the use of such a sensitive subject for a PR stunt.

In my opinion, the game crossed the line here by using such a sensitive topic to gain attention for their new game. Using a pseudo-event to obtain attention is ok, but I think that a company should always be aware of the people they could possibly hurt by their actions. In my opinion, it is not ethical to use peoples fear for your own gains. What do you think? Is it ok to obtain attention for your game/brand by using such a sensitive topic? 

By Anouk de Jong.