Junk Activism

Electronic Arts staged a protest of their upcoming video game “Dante’s Inferno” at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles.

Inspired by the real Dante Alighieri, but adapted for a new generation and a new medium, the hero of the game is a soldier who defies death and fights for love against impossible odds. The Italian mercenary Dante returns home from the wars to find that his beloved Beatrice has been murdered, and her soul pulled down into Hell by a dark force. He gives chase, and vows to get her back. For weapons, he wields Death’s soul-reaping scythe, and commands holy powers of the cross, given to him by Beatrice.

Thank you EA, I know deep down that you hatched this idea just for me.  You combined three of my favorite things: clever marketing, video games, and protesting all into one package.  As a marketer, I gotta respect it.  Hats off to EA for the cool idea.  I’m sure the religious right hates you, but Jesus will still love you.

There must be a million things you can draw attention to by hiring 20 or so people for a few bucks to stand around and pretend to care about something.  I mean, most people in a protest crowd don’t do much anyhow but hold protest signs to draw attention.  But that’s the point, I think.

Here are protest signs from EA’s Protest for Dante’s Inferno: