At Comic-Con 2009, video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts organized a competition called "Sin to Win" to promote their game "Dante's Inferno". The promotion instructed participants to "Commit acts of lust: take photos with us or any booth babe" and send in photos via Email, Twitter or Facebook.
The winner of the contest was offered "Dinner and a SINful night with TWO hot girls, a limo service, paparazzi and a chest full of booty".
Electronic Arts posted a non-apology which read:
- We understand there's a lot of debate right now around our "Sin To Win" promotion at Comic-Con and wanted to clarify a few things. We created this promotion as part of our marketing efforts around the circle of Lust (one of the nine sins/circles of Hell). Each month we will be focusing on a new Circle of Hell. This month is Lust. Costumed reps are a tradition at Comic-Con. In the spirit of both the Circle of Lust and Comic-Con, we are encouraging attendees to Tweet photos of themselves with any of the costumed reps at Comic-Con here, find us on Facebook or via email. "Commit acts of lust" is simply a tongue-in-cheek way to say take pictures with costumed reps. Also, a "Night of Lust" means only that the winner will receive a chaperoned VIP night on the town with the Dante's Inferno reps, all expenses paid, as well as other prizes.
- We apologize for any confusion and offense that resulted from our choice of wording, and want to assure you that we take your concerns and sentiments seriously. We'll continue to follow your comments and please let us know if you have any other thoughts or concerns. Keep watching as the event unfolds and we hope you'll agree with us that it was all done in the spirit of the good natured fun of Comic-Con.
Responses
- EA games invites convention attendees to sexually harass ‘booth babes’ The F-Word Blog
- EA puts sexual bounty on the heads of its own booth babes Ars Technica
- EA Demands "Acts of Lust" With Comic-Con Booth Babe The Escapist
- EA takes booth babe lechery to a new level AdFreak blog
- Sexism and the EA/Dante’s Inferno - ‘Sin to Win’ Contest Gaming Angels
- Update: Runner-up For #Lust Contest from a runner-up in the contest
- EA/Dante's Inferno FAIL IRIS forums
- #EAFail Link Roundup links to most of the above and more
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