Though temporarily suspended, the United States government experienced a shutdown that lasted longer than any previous shutdowns in US history. While the House remained divided, thousands of government workers were forced to continue going into work without receiving a paycheck. While many – though not all – are receiving backpay, it was still a very serious time for the country.
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With Ubisoft’s The Division 2 being very politically-charged just in terms of narrative, not specifically with the current representatives, one marketing rep send out emails urging players to try out the game’s upcoming demo with the joking tagline “Come see what a real government shutdown looks like.”
Just a few short hours later, a follow up e-mail was sent out with apologies saying “A marketing email promoting Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 was sent in error today. This was a grave breakdown in process and we apologize for this error and the offensive subject line of the e-mail.”
The apology continued, “We recognize the very real impact of the United States government shutdown on thousands of people and did not intend to make light of the situation.”
Twitter had a field day with the “grave breakdown” given their previous stance of not getting politically. Naturally, Twitter did what it is want to do — it made fun of the entire situation:
‘The Division 2 is not trying to make a political statement’ – 2018
2019 be like: pic.twitter.com/4xKoRRfryw
— Skill Up on vacation (@SkillUpYT) February 1, 2019
As someone who has been boycotting Ubisoft for the past few years, I gotta admit that this marketing email for The Division 2 is actually pretty funny and clever pic.twitter.com/0ps5kmLGWX
— TrueApollo (@true_Apollo_gg) January 31, 2019
@SpawnWaveMedia @Ubisoft issues email apology for earlier offensive email in regards to The Division 2. Does anyone else finds it offensive ? #TheDivision2 pic.twitter.com/VxMBIqp8xm
— Lousroom (@Lousroom) February 1, 2019
Ubisoft sent me a promotional email for the private beta of The Division 2 and I’ve never laughed harder. Got an email a few hours later apologizing for the “offensive subject line” but this was brilliant. pic.twitter.com/tRdhLy8piA
— Video Game Humour 🕹 (@VGHumour) February 1, 2019
The subject line of Ubisoft’s email to Private Beta players of the Division 2 was goddamn BRILLIANT 😂
Not my photo, credit to Reddit user u/OhioBoi17 pic.twitter.com/BobgSpbDhG
— Barry McCockinner (@MyHandsAreWise) February 1, 2019
Some thought it was thoughtless, others thought it was brillant given the scope of the game itself. What do you think? Did it cross the line, or was it a hilarious marketing strategy? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below, or hit me up over on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy.
As for the beta itself, that kicks off on February 6th at 1 AM PT.
Please keep in mind that the author of this story did not express her opinion on the matter in any way. If you reach out to her on social media, please consider that no personal affront has been mentioned.
