Free Gas Promotion From Mercenaries 2 Doesn’t Go Over Well in London

Last week, Electronic Arts decided to promote the release of Mercenaries 2 in a decidedly unique way: by giving away free gas to motorists in Los Angeles at a decorated station run by people dressed as characters in the game. The promotion went over well, and they thought they’d try the same marketing gimmick in the UK. Bad idea. Turns out they didn’t plan the event quite so well in London and ended up causing traffic to come to a screeching halt during the morning rush hour. People flocking to get their share of the £20,000 worth of free fuel ended up gridlocking the area for quite awhile, forcing police to shut down the station even though there was still £9,000 worth of gas left. Several residents and one politician, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, were notably upset, saying:

“Whilst a lucky few might have got some free petrol, hundreds of local residents have faced misery on their daily journeys this morning. They deserve an apology for being the victims of such an ill-thought out media stunt.”

On the other hand though, the people who did manage to fill their tank for free seemed to have no complaints. On woman who waited in line 40 minutes stated:

“I think it’s a brilliant promotion. I don’t see it becoming a full-time thing, but I think it’s a great idea – I’ll be telling my sons about the game.”

There’s at least one lesson to be learned from this whole ordeal though: people don’t mess around when it comes to free gas these days.

Via The Telegraph