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Hitman Facebook promo killed; must have had 'small tits'
If you logged online early enough today, you could have sent death threats to your friends on Facebook, courtesy of Square Enix and Agent 47 with the "Hire Hitman" app. Not only were these death threats, but they were full-on hits, with the targeted Facebook friend going through a process that flashed pictures from their profiles in front of their eyes before they were killed. To top it off, the hits were identified by awkwardly specific reasons such as "her ginger hair, her muffin top, her hairy legs," or "her small tits."Yes, this was a real thing you could do this morning. Square Enix since removed the app, not long after launching it and just after Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote about it. We can't imagine why, though Square sent over a statement that cleared it up nicely:"Earlier today we launched an app based around Hitman: Absolution that allowed you to place virtual hits on your Facebook friends. Those hits would only be viewable by the recipient and could only be sent to people who were confirmed friends. We were wide of the mark with the app and following feedback from the community we decided the best thing to do was remove it completely and quickly. This we've now done. We're sorry for any offence caused by this."This attempt at crude viral marketing is reminiscent of other hackneyed ads, such as Resident Evil 6's human butcher, Resident Evil 5's real-world severed-limb hunt, the brass knuckles EA sent us and quickly requested back for Godfather 2, or The Walking Dead FPS' necklace of human ears. Rockstar similarly caved under pressure with Bully in the UK, changing the name to Canis Canem Edit after a maelstrom of hyperbolic public attention labeled the game a "Columbine simulator."If you want to experience the Hire Hitman app – too bad, because it's gone. Take This Lollipop, however, is still live on Facebook and uses the same premise, though it doesn't allow users to engage in name-calling, bigotry, death threats or misogyny.
