Infinity Ward Pulls ‘FAGS’ Ad

After having their game leaked to the planet’s pirating populace and catching flack for some of the controversial secrets revealed therein, one could say that the folks at Infinity Ward are having a fairly rough week. However, they brought their latest batch of hardships upon themselves. A recent viral video for Modern Warfare 2, which featured Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels delivering a PSA (video NSFW) about overzealous grenade use, drew the ire of many of its viewers. 

This wasn’t due to the light swearing featured in the video, but rather, because of the name of the PSA’s sponsor: Fight Against Grenade Spam, which, when acronym-ized, spells out an offensive slur. Following the inevitable backlash which occurred when the gaming community realized the slur’s inclusion, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling responded by Tweeting, “I think the core gag is great, the end is a bit too far from the intent of the joke & can appreciate the concerns. Pulled.” True to his word, the video was soon yanked from the developer’s YouTube channel.

The complaints from those who viewed the offending ad were two-fold: First, they didn’t like that the slur (even in its spelled-out state) was used at all. However, the bigger complaint seemed to be that Infinity Ward was catering to the sensibilities of the foul, hateful underbelly of the online gaming community. [joystiq]

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Infinity Ward Pulls 'FAGS' Ad

Rate this item After having their game leaked to the planet’s pirating populace and catching flack for some of the controversial secrets revealed therein, one could say that the folks at Infinity Ward are having a fairly rough week. However, they brought their latest batch of hardships upon themselves. A recent viral video for Modern Warfare 2, which featured Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels delivering a PSA (video NSFW) about overzealous grenade use, drew the ire of many of its viewers.  This wasn’t due to the light swearing featured in the video, but rather, because of the name of the PSA’s sponsor: Fight Against Grenade Spam, which, when acronym-ized, spells out an offensive slur. Following the inevitable backlash which occurred when the gaming community realized the slur’s inclusion, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling responded by Tweeting, “I think the core gag is great, the end is a bit too far from the intent of the joke & can appreciate the concerns. Pulled.” True to his word, the video was soon yanked from the developer’s YouTube channel. The complaints from those who viewed the offending ad were two-fold: First, they didn’t like that the slur (even in its spelled-out state) was used at all. However, the bigger complaint seemed to be that Infinity Ward was catering to the sensibilities of the foul, hateful underbelly of the online gaming community. [joystiq]

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