Call of Duty

It’s a cruel, cruel world.  At midnight of the 10th of November 2009, just as the clocks of the world ticked on into Armistice Day, a very sly marketing ploy by computer game company Activision meant that the latest version of the first-person shooter series “Call of Duty” (Modern Warfare 2) was released to the trigger hungry public. The camapaign was complete with a launching event at the VUE cinema in Leicester Square in a very Hollywood style. Armoured tanks and fully armoured soldiers hung around London’s busy square announcing the arrival of the 18-rated shoot them-up thriller.

Sales promised to be massive, and they were, notwithstanding controversy regarding some scenes in the game in which the player joins a group of terrorists raiding an airport and killing civilians. A spokesperson for Activision was eager to point out that the player can “stand by and watch” rather than participate actively in the massacre by pulling the trigger. Big Brother mentality sells. Especially since this time you are placed at the heart of the gory and gruesome action of violence and shooting.

The game sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide on its first day of sales which happened to be Armistice Day (Remembrance Day). True, it may be virtual reality but it does fly in the face of the very concept of respect and Remembrance. The game might be wicked, technically avant-garde and set for a number of awards but the marketing campaign deserves a two thumbs down for insensitivity and crass disrespect.