THQ recently released 10,000 red balloons as part of a promotion for Homefront. Designed to simulate the way that South Korea sends messages to North Koreans, rain sent many of them straight into the San Francisco Bay.
“When I looked out the window and saw thousands of balloons dropping straight into the bay, I was flabbergasted,” said Rod Fujita, a senior oceans scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund. “I never expected to see something like this in San Francisco, where there’s such concern about the bay and pollution.”
The balloons carried a promotion that would allow those that found it to receive a downloadable pack at GameStop. After pictures showed thousands of the balloons in the bay, environmentalists blasted the promotion, and THQ went into damage control.
“We understand the concerns consumers have regarding the impact balloons can have on the environment,” read a statement by GameStop. “However, the balloon drop stunt in San Francisco was created by THQ . . . and Game-Stop had no prior knowledge of it.”
THQ for its part said that the balloons were 100 percent organic and biodegradable, and they sent a clean up crew to remove remaining debris.
Source: SF Gate
