<div>No particular opinion about the game, but their balloon promo event for the game in San Francisco - meant to simulate the method South Koreans use to send messages, etc to the North - was...interesting. </div>
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<div>Dylan Davis</div>
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<div><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL</a></div>
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<h1>Balloon stunt in S.F. draws anger, criticism</h1></div>
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="fn"><a class="email fn" href="mailto:jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com">John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer</a></span></p><span class="source-org vcard" style="DISPLAY: none"><span class="org fn">San Francisco Chronicle</span></span> <span class="updated" title="2011-03-02T16:54:00-07:00" style="DISPLAY: none">March 2, 2011 04:54 PM</span> <a id="license-/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL" style="DISPLAY: none" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL#license-/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL" rel="item-license">Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> <img style="DISPLAY: none" height="1" alt="" src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/v2/image.svc/SFC/RWS/www.sfgate.com/MAI/ca20110303BAU11I2LER.DTL/E/Prod" width="1">
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<p class="date">Thursday, March 3, 2011</p></div></div>
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<p class="byline">Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle</p>
<p class="caption">Ten thousand red balloons are released at Yerba Buena Gardens in S.F. to promote a new video game being featured at the Game Developers Conference.</p></div>
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<h2>Images</h2><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077188.jpg" target=""><img class="thumb" alt="Ten thousand red balloons are released at Yerba Buena Gar..." src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/03/02_t/ba-balloons03_PH_0503077188_t.gif"></a><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077898.jpg" target=""><img class="thumb" alt="Some of the 10,000 red balloons that were released Wednes..." src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/03/02_t/ba-balloons03_PH_0503077898_t.gif"></a><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fba-balloons03_PH_0503077191.jpg" target=""><img class="last-thumb" alt="Some of the thousands of balloons that were released to p..." src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/03/02_t/ba-balloons03_PH_0503077191_t.gif"></a> <a class="view clearfix" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/03/03/BAU11I2LER.DTL&object=" target=""><img class="plus" alt="" src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/graphics/utils/plus-green.gif"> View Larger Images</a> </div>
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<p><strong>(03-02) 17:54 PST San Francisco</strong> -- A publicity stunt for a new warfare-based video game sent local environmentalists to arms when a mass of balloons carrying advertisements for the game cascaded into San Francisco Bay.</p>
<p>"When I looked out the window and saw thousands of balloons dropping straight into the bay, I was flabbergasted," said Rod Fujita, a senior oceans scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund. "I never expected to see something like this in San Francisco, where there's such concern about the bay and pollution."</p>
<p>The release of the 10,000 ill-fated red balloons came courtesy of THQ, a Southern California video game company in town for the Game Developers Conference at Moscone Center.</p>
<p>Because the game is set in a near-future where the United States is invaded by nuclear-armed troops from North Korea, the company staged a mock lunchtime rally at Yerba Buena Gardens where the game's supporters, in the words of the company's news release, "will take to the streets to demonstrate against the North Korean regime and the treatment of its citizens."</p>
<p>The staged rally was capped by the massive balloon launch, designed, the company said, to "simulate a method used by South Korea to send messages of hope to the North."</p>
<p>The "messages of hope" carried by these balloons, however, amounted to an exclusive offer from GameStop video game store allowing gamers to "receive the resistance multi-player pack, featuring an exclusive weapon."</p>
<p>Even that message didn't get too far. While the balloons at first soared into the leaden gray skies above the city, wind and rain quickly sent thousands of them plunging into the bay, only blocks away.</p>
<p>"They were just dropping right out of the sky into the water," Fujita said.</p>
<p>Pictures of the balloons bobbing on the bay quickly made their way onto social media sites like Facebook and Flickr, as angry environmentalists blasted the stunt in e-mails and on Twitter.</p>
<p>"Obviously, we have a problem with polluting of the bay and this is just polluting and littering," said Amy Ricard, a spokeswoman for the environmental group Save the Bay.</p>
<p>"Your balloon campaign was a stupid thing to do to a city surrounded on three sides by water," one San Francisco resident said in an e-mail to GameStop. "You should be held accountable for the waste." </p>
<p>The companies quickly went to damage control.</p>
<p>"We understand the concerns consumers have regarding the impact balloons can have on the environment," read a statement released by GameStop. "However, the balloon drop stunt in San Francisco was created by THQ ... and Game-Stop had no prior knowledge of it."</p>
<p>A statement from THQ assured concerned bayside residents that the balloons released "were made from a 100% organic product and are 100% biodegradable," with no history of causing environmental pollution.</p>
<p>But just in case, the statement continued, "we've retained a clean up crew to remove any potential lingering debris."</p>
<p>Environmental groups remained concerned about potential danger to the bay and its sea life and the ocean.</p>
<p>"Even biodegradable products take a while to disappear," Fujita said.</p>
<p class="dtlcomment">E-mail John Wildermuth at <a href="mailto:jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com">jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com</a>.</p></div></div></div><br><br>Read more: <a style="COLOR: #003399" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL#ixzz1IFdMRAbZ">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/02/MNU11I2LER.DTL#ixzz1IFdMRAbZ</a><br>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 9:46 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:afostercarter@aol.com">afostercarter@aol.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"><font face="arial" color="black" size="2"><font face="arial">Dear friends and colleagues,</font>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><br></div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">Many thanks to Stephen Epstein for sparking a most useful debate.</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">I fully share his concerns.</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><br></div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">In perhaps parallel vein, I found myself similarly outraged by a new</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">video game. Am I over-reacting, or is this also reprehensible</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">and something which should concern the Koreanist community?</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">- not many of whom, I'd hazard, are familiar with this popular genre.</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">(And yes, Don, I know it's a free country.) See the first link below. </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><br></div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">Kind regards</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">Aidan FC</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><br></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria">Aidan Foster-Carter</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria">Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds University, UK</span></i><span style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria"> </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Cambria"></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara">Recent articles, broadcasts and other activities on Korea (mostly):</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara"> </span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara">29 March, 2011<span> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">I get all steamed up about a video nasty. <b>Just a game? <i>Homefront</i>’s sick, stupid Korean invasion fantasy. </b>At <i>38North</i>: <b><span> </span></b></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://38north.org/2011/03/homefront/" target="_blank">http://38north.org/2011/03/homefront/</a></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara">16 March<span> </span></span></i><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">Lee versus Lee: A phoney war in Seoul</span></b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black"><span> </span>Asia Times Online</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC16Dg02.html" target="_blank">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC16Dg02.html</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara"> </span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara">9 March<span> </span></span></i><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">Korea's pulpit bullies take aim at Islam <span> </span></span></b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">Asia Times Online </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black"><span> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC09Dg01.html" target="_blank">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC09Dg01.html</a> <span> </span>(Not my choice of headline, which was “Protestants protest: South Korea’s church militant”)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Candara">4 March<span> </span></span></i><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">North Koreans: Still hungry. Who cares?</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black"><span> </span><i>Asia Times Online </i></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC04Dg01.html" target="_blank">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MC04Dg01.html</a><i><span style="COLOR: black"></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black"> </span></i></div></div>
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<div style="CLEAR: both"></div></div></font></blockquote></div><br>