Resident Evil 5 marketing fun - real game of "hunt the body parts" going on in London right now.

Creating advertising stunts for video games has always skirted the edge - remember when Acclaim Entertainment said they'd advertise on tombstones? When a PlayStation 2 party was serving offal from the stomach of a freshly decapitated goat, when Electronic Arts gave away £20,000 worth of fuel to promote the game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" causing London causing serious traffic jams and attracting the ire from the local MP for Hornsey and Wood Green,Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, who said: "Trying to recreate Venezuelan-style fuel riots on the streets of London is completely irresponsible and downright dangerous.".

Well now we have reached a new level of tacky - as Resident Evil 5 launched a game of "find the body parts" thrown around London. Between nine and eleven today, hunters who've signed up to play have to figure out by way of clues where these body parts lie.

I admit, I love the idea though, if only for this part;
"Alert us to your presence by standing on Westminster Bridge, holding the artificial body parts over your head and shouting 'Kijuju!'. We will be there, watching you, and will approach when you make yourselves known."
A crowd of people waving dismembered body parts around while shouting gibberish quite close to the houses of parliament? Now that's funny.

Capcom's release read; "the infected have been and gone - but they have left behind the bloodied remains of their victims. Find the bodies on the morning of Thursday March 12th and win a holiday to Africa." - at 11 am the game is over, and I can't wait until the pictures taken by confused passers by show up on Flickr.

This could never have been done in Boston, where Adult Swim Boston LED Billboards caused panic. ;-)