THQ Homefront Balloon Stunt Angers San Francisco Citizens

March 3, 201115 yr

As part of the Game Developer's Conference celebrations in San Francisco this week, publisher THQ decided to unleash a wave of balloons advertising its upcoming shooter, Homefront. Unfortunately, some S.F. natives were not particularly pleased about the stunt, especially once the balloons started landing in the San Francisco Bay.

CNET reports that many people upset about the balloons polluting the Bay (as pictured above) mistakenly aimed their anger at retailer GameStop, whose logo also appeared on the balloons. GameStop provided the following response:

"We understand the concerns consumers have regarding the impact balloons can have on the environment. However, the balloon drop stunt in San Francisco was created by THQ, the publisher of Homefront, and GameStop had no prior knowledge of it. THQ has since informed us that they released soy-based, biodegradable balloons."

Speaking to CNET, THQ vice president of corporate communications Julia MacMedan clarified:

"The balloons that were released are completely biodegradable. They start the process of biodegrading as soon as they're blown up with the helium. There should not be any environmental concerns."

MacMedan said the publisher "do[es] not expect there will be any danger to fish or wildlife." THQ also stated that they have a clean-up crew that will be removing balloons from the Bay.

[Full disclosure: GameStop is the parent company of Game Informer.]

(Source - GameInformer)

I spent all of 10 minutes (not long at all) looking for information about soy based balloons. While I saw a ton of information for soy based inks used on balloons, I didn't come across any for the actual balloon itself. That's not to say they don't exist, though. Personally, I don't care if they were biodegradable and such a thing as soy based balloons are real. Even if they did 'start' to biodegrade upon inflation, you're still putting the animals AND boaters that use the SF bay, at risk. I think there's some wordplay being done by THQ. Even latex balloons are biodegradable.

I came across this quote, in my search about soy based balloons. I think it hammers home the point pretty well. "What would you think if I came to your neighborhood with a stack of old newspapers and did a "newspaper release" ? They're biodegradeable. Heck, they're made from trees and even printed with soy-based ink.".

To anyone that believes their cleanup crew picked up all of those balloons on the SF bay... it's not possible. It's extremely windy on the bay. They would be scattered all over the place. They especially wouldn't go to Cabbage Patch (notorious spot on the bay) and try to pick up a few balloons in a small retrieval vessel. It's far too dangerous. What about the Farralon islands? If they got out there, do you honestly think they sent a cleanup crew? lol No. That's a Great White feeding ground.

Wake up promoters. We understand you need to think outside the box. We understand that the same thing can't be used over and over. However, think about impact and who or whatever else can or may be affected by your promotional event.

I suppose if there's something positive to be found from something like this, it's that we learn from our mistakes. Only if we're honest with ourselves, though. It's okay to make a mistake. It's only terrible if you didn't learn from it.

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March 3, 201115 yr

I still think the Cartoon Network stunt was the stupidest. They even called out the bomb squad for what was effectively a bunch of Lite-Brights. LoL

I agree with you though P to the Kizzle. I've never heard of a "soy based balloon". I doubt one exists.