Acclaim ad campaign sparks fury

Yesterday, publishing giant Acclaim released details of a controversial advertising campaign for its forthcoming PS2 title, ShadowMan: 2econd Coming, a game themed around the undead and morbid. Billed as the "first ever gravestone ad campaign," the company plans to place commercial messages relating to the game on headstones throughout the UK.

Acclaim is currently seeking the permission from willing relatives of the recently deceased to go ahead with its "deadvertising" campaign. What's more, the company is further promising cash sums to relatives, offering to part pay for a funeral a family might not have been able to afford, in return for advertising space.

Though Acclaim is no doubt aware of the controversy such a campaign could cause many see it as a new low for games advertising, sparking vehement criticism and debate on the feasibility of the proposal. "I'm saddened," said Tim Morris, secretary for the Institute of Burial and Cremation Administration (IBCA). "If you were recently bereaved and you were walking through a cemetery to visit one of your parents graves and there was an advert on the next grave for a game relating to the undead, how would you feel?"

This view has been echoed by the religious community, with Rev. Canon Dennison remarking: "Anything which crosses the line of respecting bereaved people is quite, quite unfortunate to say the least." Despite such criticism, Acclaim is sticking to its guns: "We're not just going around graveyards slapping ShadowMan 2 stuff on gravestones," said Shaun White, communication manager for Acclaim UK. "Everything we would advertise on we'd get permission for first."

When charged with being behind a campaign that could be viewed as being in very bad taste, White responded: "Advertising has changed a lot - you walk down the street and companies are advertising on bins. The fact that people have given us permission to do it makes it legitimate."

The question of the validity of such a campaign has naturally reared its head. Advertising would not be possible in any form on Church ground, so municipal sites are being fingered as legitimate targets. When asked if Council permission would be required for such a venture, Graham Goodkind of Frank PR, who is working closely with Acclaim on the campaign, said: "You don't need any permission from them; they don't have any such regulations. It's a free area."

Others have strongly disputed this claim, however. "An authority could refuse permission for a memorial to be erected where they thought the memorial might cause offence," said Morris. This was backed up by Sam Weller, Chairman of the Association of Burial Authorities (ABA), who stated: "The local authorities would have to ensure it wasn't offensive to public tastes." Viewed purely as a matter of taste, Rev. Dennison observed: "I would have thought that most burial authorities would be averse to third-party advertisement."

For its part, the Advertising Standards Association has its hands tied to an extent: "We only look at the content rather than the locality," said Donna Mitchell of the ASA. "If someone objects to where an advert is, that's something that's out of our remit." Mitchell, however, had already been in contact with Frank PR to "make sure they knew [the content] was not outside of our regulations."

But the most controversial element of the whole campaign must surely be Acclaim's pledge to offer a cash reward to grieving families in exchange for advertising space on a headstone. Surely this is just preying on the emotionally vulnerable? "I don't think it is," asserts Acclaim's Shaun White. "People need to think about whether it's right for them. It could be that the person in question is a huge fan of videogames." Goodkind added to this, stating: "The alternative is an inferior funeral. Obviously it relies on a death to be the trigger for it," a remark that seems somewhat ill-advised in the light of the slogan: "An advertising campaign to die for."

Details of how the payment will be issued have caused the most fervent consternation, however. "Position is everything," stated White. Does this mean Acclaim will pay more for gravestones in prime locations? "Pretty much, yes."

Tim Morris of the IBCA was outraged by this revelation: "People who buy memorials are recently bereaved and to be approached and asked if you'd like an advertisement for a game that relates to macabre things would have a very bad affect on that person, I would have thought." Reverend Dennison also expressed deep worries: "The real concern is for vulnerable people at their most vulnerable point," he said. "If someone comes along with a fat cheque, you can see that bereaved families would be persuaded."

Acclaim, for its part, will rethink its strategy if inundated with complaints: "If we get bad feedback then we wouldn't do it anyway," White said. "But we've had a couple of vicars who've actually praised the initiative."

Many will see this campaign as simply a step too far. If it does go ahead it could set a dangerous precedent for advertising in general, and raise serious questions about the sanctity of burial grounds. But, as Morris states: "Hopefully it's a non-starter: I hope that common sense prevails."

Johnny Minkley