Battlefield 1 publisher EA has been forced to issue an apology following a poorly-conceived marketing campaign on Twitter. As reported by Shacknews (via VG247), it appears as if the company had been attempting to drum-up additional hype for the World War I shooter by posting various in-game images labelled with the hashtag #justWWIthings. Each photo was released with a relevant caption as well, such as “When you’re too hot for the club,” adorning a picture of a flamethrower-wielding soldier.
Despite portraying several horrific battles from the Great War in-game, it seems as if the – admittedly distasteful – Tweets have crossed a line for many, as the images are essentially glorifying some of the terror that emerged during WWI. EA has since deleted the offending Tweets in question, although Shacknews managed to pull a few of them before the U-turn, and you can check them out below.
A statement has since been issued to Shacknews that apologizes for any offence caused by the images, and it reads as follows:
We would like to apologize for any offense caused by content in the last 24 hours posted on the @Battlefield Twitter account. It did not treat the World War 1 era with the respect and sensitivity that we have strived to maintain with the game and our communications.
Not smart, EA. We don’t imagine the blunder will affect sales of Battlefield 1, which has already had a hugely-successful launch, but the publisher will no doubt think twice from now on before giving any marketing stunt the green light.
