Activision's Twitter promotional stunt for Call of Duty: Black Ops III about a certain "explosion" in Singapore looked a little too realistic that it created quite a buzz over the Internet.
At around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, the official Twitter account of Call of Duty (@CallOfDuty) changed its name into "Current Events Aggregate." It then started posting tweets about a terrorist attack in Singapore.
"BREAKING NEWS: Unconfirmed reports are coming in of an explosion on the North bank of the Singapore Marina," reads the first tweet the handle posted over Twitter and was sent to its 2.9 million followers.
Photos of a city under a terrorist attack were then posted on the account, which was sporting a new icon and name, with more updates on the current situation.
"UPDATE: Singapore Authorities have officially announced a state of emergency and declared martial law," writes the handle.
After the account posted several tweets over the next hours, it then wrote a final tweet, saying it was a quick look into the future fiction of the video game.
However, the publisher's move seemed to result to numerous complaints from the netizens, saying the publicity stunt was "tacky," "poorly planned" and "irresponsible."
The fake news outlet which boasted the tagline "We bring you the real news" was then renamed to its original Call of Duty handle. However, the posts have not been deleted.
Let's see how netizens reacted to Activision's publicity stunt:
COD's latest social media campaign is dangerous & is gonna cause panic. What idiot thought this was a good idea? pic.twitter.com/O6wHoNTtHU
- LavenderTownMarowak (@athenahollow) September 29, 2015
This @CallofDuty Twitter stunt is so bad. So irresponsible. - Mark Lawson (@Born2beSlicker) September 29, 2015
So @CallofDuty has more than 2M followers & is faking news that could be devastating for those unaware it's video game marketing. Awful.
- Tauriq Moosa (@tauriqmoosa) September 29, 2015
Meanwhile, below are some of the tweets from Call of Duty's official Twitter account that made the rounds over the Internet:
City Authorities urge the public not to panic, and to not hinder the emergency teams that are converging on the area. - Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) September 29, 2015
James Chung, commander of the Singapore Armed Forces, has issued a statement about the situation on the ground. Points follow.
- Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) September 29, 2015
Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops III is scheduled to be unveiled on Nov. 6.
The video game will be available on Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, PS4 and Xbox One.
