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In honor of Pride Month, lets remember Modern Warfare 2 and its shitty homophobic "PSA"

AzureJet

AzureJet

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 25, 2017
197
For those too young to remember or for those who just forgot, someone in Activision/Infinity Ward marketing decided it would be clever to create a PSA to make fun of the grenade spammers.

This idea is all fine and good, as grenade spamming generally made multiplayer less enjoyable, except they decided to call it, "Friends Against Grenade Spam". It's not hard to see what the problem is.



Always remember that no gaming company is your "friend", and will jump on the next social movement like Pride Month in order to make a buck.
 
Cess007

Cess007

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,105
B.C., Mexico
I remembered this the other day in a random conversation with a friend about CoD. It still leaves me speechless that someone saw that Ad/PSA before going live and give it the 'go ahead'
 
Blitzpwnage

Blitzpwnage

Member
Feb 11, 2018
550
Holy cow I remember watching this and thinking nothing of it when I was younger. Watching it now, DAMN, this is TERRIBLEEEEE. Different and disgusting times, still lots of work ahead. Happy Pride month to everyone! 🏳️‍🌈

Signed, a white cis ally.
 
Bass2448

Bass2448

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
565
While offensive and tasteless, It needs to be said that this was made during a time where the nation was not considerate as to the feelings of LGTBQ. Is it an excuse? No of course not. It just needs to be taken in consideration, The mass populace itself did not respect them back then so obviously they were a joke to marketing companies.

Thank god we are better than this now.

Edit: Also very much agree with your statement about gaming companies not being your friend.
 
cdm00

cdm00

The Fallen
Dec 5, 2018
2,225
Reading the OP I didn't understand it, but after watching the video I could hear the acronym. Certainly shame on Activision and IW for this bs. Hopefully they've learned from this awful ad
 
SolidSnakex

SolidSnakex

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,374
Jawmuncher said:
We need Bad Company back
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We absolutely do. It's still my favorite military shooter franchise, even if it's only two games. It's still the only military shooter where it seems like they put a big effort into the crew that you were with the entire game. That made a big difference compared to the throwaway casts that are common in most other military shooters.
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,655
cdm00 said:
Reading the OP I didn't understand it, but after watching the video I could hear the acronym. Certainly shame on Activision and IW for this bs. Hopefully they've learned from this awful ad
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Well at least in regards to their last game, Infinite Warfare.

I'll spoiler tag in case anyone wants to play it unspoiled:

Ebele Yetide who is one of the main crew members of the Retribution has a wife. In the ending when you can listen to the 8 posthumous recordings, she is talking to her wife.
 
Psamtik

Psamtik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,868
To underscore that this wasn't that long ago, Cole Hamels is still playing.

"Gamer culture" has probably gotten worse, if anything, but (most) developers have come a long way in a relatively short time.
 
medyej

medyej

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,436
Can we use this thread to call out bullshit homophobia from devs in general? Because I will never forget this by Ninja Theory:

46d4ab140d9a5bd8d82ea47b226fd3b2a7c6afeb_2_690x278.jpeg


Worst part is they were never called out on this in the games press.
 
test_account

test_account

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,645
Lashley said:
How is saying a company isn't your friend generalizing thousands of people? It's an entity.
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He/she is implying that people working for gaming companies say positive things about pride month only to make money, not to be friendly/sincere about it. Thats my interpretation at least. Please correct me if i'm misunderstanding. Its the people who work for the companies that say things, not the company itself, so its not an entity.
 
Dmax3901

Dmax3901

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,872
Bass2448 said:
While offensive and tasteless, It needs to be said that this was made during a time where the nation was not considerate as to the feelings of LGTBQ. Is it an excuse? No of course not. It just needs to be taken in consideration, The mass populace itself did not respect them back then so obviously they were a joke to marketing companies.

Thank god we are better than this now.

Edit: Also very much agree with your statement about gaming companies not being your friend.
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2009 ain't that long ago.
 
Cels

Cels

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,772
i remember the CC promo but not the cole hamels promo.

the MW2 video would have been fine without the fake FAGS interest group. they could have done FRAGS like BFBC2.
 
1000% H

1000% H

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,639
test_account said:
He/she is implying that people working for gaming companies say positive things about pride month only to make money, not to be friendly/sincere about it. Thats my interpretation at least. Please correct me if i'm misunderstanding. Its the people who work for the companies that say things, not the company itself, so its not an entity.
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No, they are talking about the company.
 
CenturionNami

CenturionNami

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Nov 2, 2017
5,230
grandwizorb said:
Can we use this thread to call out bullshit homophobia from devs in general? Because I will never forget this by Ninja Theory:

46d4ab140d9a5bd8d82ea47b226fd3b2a7c6afeb_2_690x278.jpeg


Worst part is they were never called out on this in the games press.
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The reboot was absolutely dripping with toxic masculinity. The old series has problems, but it's not nearly to the same extent as the Reboot's edge.
 
Bass2448

Bass2448

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
565
Dmax3901 said:
2009 ain't that long ago.
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10 years is huge when in the context of Human Social shifts. Social Media's rise changed everything and tribalism skyrocketed. I absolutely hate Tribalism and over time it might prove to be one of the greatest evils. One thing birthed out of all this, Is more and more people are getting fed up with racists, bigots, etc. and its a huge positive step for our civilization.
 
Soliloquy of a Dogge

Soliloquy of a Dogge

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,978
And gamer culture is more racist, more homophobic, more misogynistic and more intolerant today than it was back then. By a long shot.
 
Gacha Santa Alter

Gacha Santa Alter

Member
Feb 9, 2019
2,483
Gacha Hell
Bass2448 said:
While offensive and tasteless, It needs to be said that this was made during a time where the nation was not considerate as to the feelings of LGTBQ. Is it an excuse? No of course not. It just needs to be taken in consideration, The mass populace itself did not respect them back then so obviously they were a joke to marketing companies.

Thank god we are better than this now.

Edit: Also very much agree with your statement about gaming companies not being your friend.
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Eh. Deep down I'm not so sure the current situation is all that much better. Sure, the public image of the LGTB crowd has improved somewhat in the last decade, but I feel the gaming industry is just riding that wave despite making no meaningful efforts to actually improve the situation (talking specifically about the big dogs here, I'm aware of smaller indie pushes in the right direction). It's just more profitable to stop making gay jokes in your stuff and have your PR-bot 3000 make a rainbow background for your logo during Pride Month.

And even then you get trainwrecks like CDPR and THQ.
 
KhandoleezzaRice

KhandoleezzaRice

Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,380
I feel like the word still had some level of public acceptability and was thrown around casually around that time, obviously that still doesn't make it okay.
 
test_account

test_account

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,645
1000% H said:
This isn't rocket surgery, lol.
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Thats right. I still dont see how one can seperate the company from those who work there though. Can you elaborate on it? It is possible to seperate sections within the company of course, like saying that the developers and those who run the company are two differnt groups within the company, but its still about what people do.

EDIT: And just to add, there are of course cases where people might join in on a "bandwagon" for monetary gains, but theres a lot of gaming companies out there, big and small, so i dont think everyone just put their views aside and say what they think people want to hear just to make money or something like that.
 
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HiLife

HiLife

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
39,647
I still remember that trailer and thought what the hell were they thinking. Then again I'm not surprised by the main demographic CoD tends to cater to with their edgy airport missions and hype Eminem trailers with dorito / mountain dew collabs.
 
Noodle

Noodle

Banned
Aug 22, 2018
3,427
Bass2448 said:
While offensive and tasteless, It needs to be said that this was made during a time where the nation was not considerate as to the feelings of LGTBQ. Is it an excuse? No of course not. It just needs to be taken in consideration, The mass populace itself did not respect them back then so obviously they were a joke to marketing companies.

Thank god we are better than this now.

Edit: Also very much agree with your statement about gaming companies not being your friend.
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Click to shrink...

It really, really wasn't that long ago. Hence the backlash and the video being pulled.
 
HiLife

HiLife

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
39,647
Bass2448 said:
While offensive and tasteless, It needs to be said that this was made during a time where the nation was not considerate as to the feelings of LGTBQ. Is it an excuse? No of course not. It just needs to be taken in consideration, The mass populace itself did not respect them back then so obviously they were a joke to marketing companies.

Thank god we are better than this now.

Edit: Also very much agree with your statement about gaming companies not being your friend.
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Click to shrink...

Idk man. I was in HS when this came out. I don't really consider that long ago and can remember the 360 days clear as day.
 
Jangowuzhere

Jangowuzhere

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,505
Bass2448 said:
While offensive and tasteless, It needs to be said that this was made during a time where the nation was not considerate as to the feelings of LGTBQ. Is it an excuse? No of course not. It just needs to be taken in consideration, The mass populace itself did not respect them back then so obviously they were a joke to marketing companies.

Thank god we are better than this now.

Edit: Also very much agree with your statement about gaming companies not being your friend.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Nah man, this was 10 years ago. This was shitty, even back then. I would be more accepting if this was the 90s and possibly mid 2000s, but 2009? Inexcusable. There's a reason why Dice riffed on this with Bad Company 2, because they also thought it was offensive and lame as hell.
 

MattyRatk

Banned
Apr 11, 2018
10
SolidSnakex said:
We absolutely do. It's still my favorite military shooter franchise, even if it's only two games. It's still the only military shooter where it seems like they put a big effort into the crew that you were with the entire game. That made a big difference compared to the throwaway casts that are common in most other military shooters.
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I'm probably stupid but.. What's wrong with this add. Like I don't see anything homophobic in it. Isn't he just saying that throwing grenades everywhere is for pussies? Like isn't that quite a common term?
 
Bass2448

Bass2448

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
565
Gacha Santa Alter said:
Eh. Deep down I'm not so sure the current situation is all that much better. Sure, the public image of the LGTB crowd has improved somewhat in the last decade, but I feel the gaming industry is just riding that wave despite making no meaningful efforts to actually improve the situation (talking specifically about the big dogs here, I'm aware of smaller indie pushes in the right direction). It's just more profitable to stop making gay jokes in your stuff and have your PR-bot 3000 make a rainbow background for your logo during Pride Month.

And even then you get trainwrecks like CDPR and THQ.
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There are half hearted attempts to make themselves look better without any real authentic meaning but I feel thats better than the bigoted crap we got back in the 2000's. You are absolutely right about it not being profitable now to make gay jokes and that being the main motivation. That is still disgusting but all we can really do is assume their intentions. Hopefully atleast one company out there truely believes in the movement.

Noodle said:
It really, really wasn't that long ago. Hence the backlash and the video being pulled.
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HiLife said:
Idk man. I was in HS when this came out. I don't really consider that long ago and can remember the 360 days clear as day.
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Jangowuzhere said:
Nah man, this was 10 years ago. This was pretty shitty, even back then. I would be more accepting if this was the 90s and possibly mid 2000s, but 2009? Inexcusable. There's a reason why Dice riffed on this with Bad Company 2, because they also thought it was offensive and lame as hell.
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Just like I said in another post above, Its not long ago when you are just looking at a number (10). Its huge when you look at social changes from decade to decade. We have made major progress as a people. Way more work to be done.

Edit since it was missed:

10 years is huge when in the context of Human Social shifts. Social Media's rise changed everything and tribalism skyrocketed. I absolutely hate Tribalism and over time it might prove to be one of the greatest evils. One thing birthed out of all this, Is more and more people are getting fed up with racists, bigots, etc. and its a huge positive step for our civilization.
 
SolidSnakex

SolidSnakex

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,374
Cels said:
i remember the CC promo but not the cole hamels promo.

the MW2 video would have been fine without the fake FAGS interest group. they could have done FRAGS like BFBC2.
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It just showed how lazy the ad was. In some sense the BC2 ad just seems like they were showing how easy it was to make an ad with a similar message that isn't offensive. And on top of that, it just makes a lot more sense. The CoD ad ultimately spells out "FAGS", which is obviously a gay slur. Meanwhile the BC2 ad spells out "FRAGS", which is short for fragmentation grenade. In other words, the very thing the ad is against.
 
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