4 dumbest marketing stunts by Acclaim Entertainment

The old adage goes “there’s no such thing as bad press,” ask Lindsay Lohan or BP if that statement is true. However, one video game publisher read this quote and thought that it would actually make a great slogan. Enter Acclaim Entertainment a pretty big player in the booming video game industry in the early 90s.

These days the name Acclaim Entertainment probably doesn’t mean much to the younger readers out there but back in the 90’s they were known as the company that made terrible games based of popular licenses from other media. You see, early in the 90’s gamers weren’t as aware as they are now. Internet was not readily available to everybody and information was not passed in a nanosecond. So imagine you’re a 10-year old kid inside K-Mart and you mom is ready to buy you a video game, do you pick up ActRaiser or do you pick up The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare? That’s how Acclaim got by in the early 90’s, but as the late 90’s rolled around and everybody was connecting to the information superhighway; now if I wanted to know what people thought of a certain game I could get thousands of opinions in an instant. So Acclaim now is at an impasse, do they continue to make shitty games based on popular licenses and find other ways to drum up interest and excitement? Or do they try to make quality triple-A titles based on original IPs that the industry seemed to be shifting towards? If you picked the former congratulations, you are now qualified to be an executive at Acclaim Entertainment. Here are the 4 worst marketing stunts by Acclaim and remember an executive of a multi-million dollar company looked at all these and thought “this is a fan-fucking-tastic idea!”

4. Name Your Kid Turok, Get $10,000

In the comics, Turok is a badass Native American who violently killed dinosaurs and had awesome sex with many many many women (pretty much a staple for comic characters in the mid to late 90s). With such a rich backstory it was only natural that Turok would make an awesome video game character. The first two Turok games for the N64 were met with rave reviews and stellar sales figures, the multiplayer spin-off Turok: Rage Wars was also very well received. So obviously for the next game in the series all you need to do release a few screen shots and the hype machine will generate itself right? I mean it’s not rocket science. Well, leave it up to Acclaim to screw up something so un-screw-up-able.

In anticipation for their upcoming first person shooter Turok: Evolution, Acclaim offered one lucky family (and one horribly unlucky baby) a $10,000 in United States EE Savings Bond for the first kid born on September 1st, 2002 (the game’s release date) named Turok. The idea here was never to have a baby named after everyone’s favorite dinosaur killing machine but to generate a whole bunch of free advertising from news sites reporting on the ridiculousness of this “contest.” And obviously for future advertisement for the Turok brand when the kid inevitably shows up on Maury 18 years later on a episode about the after effects of moms smoking crack while in their third trimester.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “a $10,000 education savings bond is pretty fair compensation and at least shows that the parents care about the baby’s future.” To which I say, “how dare you take away from my point with your ‘logic’.” Then, I would ask if you would change YOUR name to Turok for a year for £500 (roughly $800), an Xbox and a copy of Turok: Evolution (a game the Official US Playstation Magazine graciously called “a sad, painfully executed experience”). Well over 10,000 people thought it was a great idea when they signed up for the contest where 5 individuals would be chosen to have their name changed to Turok (just Turok, no last name like Madonna but less masculine) for a full year. Nevermind the hassle of having to change the name on everything you own and then changing it back a year later in an effort to avoid having to explain your name everyday but you would’ve had to spend the next year of life starting each conversation with, “no, my parents were not mentally challenged, I am.”

In the end, the game sold just a touch over 500K worldwide, proof that alienating your core fanbase and trying to grab the attention of people who don’t care about video games in the first place leads to poor sales. Of course this was not the last time they tried something like this.

3. Tombstone Advertisments

In the comics, Shadow Man is a badass jazz musician who violently killed the undead and had awesome sex with many many many women (I feel a sense of déjà vu). The first Shadow Man game was met with fairly good reviews and decent sales numbers, so leave it up to Acclaim to try to turn the hype machine to 11 for the sequel (OK, it’s definitely déjà vu).

For Shadow Man: 2econd Coming they decided it would be a good idea to sell advertising on tombstones. Acclaim encouraged relatives of the recently departed to contact them if they need help subsidizing the costs of putting a loved one into their final resting place. In exchange, Acclaim will put up a small billboard on top of said tombstone to advertise for the game. The billboard would feature Le Roi (the game’s lead character) and the game’s logo. Again, the idea here is not to actually advertise the game per se but to generate buzz for Shadow Man: 2econd Coming. What ended up happening however

You know what? Lets let Shaun White, Communications Manager at Acclaim explain it: “The concept of what we’re calling ‘Deadvertising’ is entirely consistent with the theme of the Shadow Man: 2econd Coming game and provides us with a permanent presence for our advertising. Content and context are two important principles of marketing Shadow Man.”

Yes, he said that with a straight face and yes, someone was paid a boatload of money to come up with an idea to desecrate something as sacred as a tombstone.