Can the Dante's Inferno marketers do anything right? At E3, they had that phony religious wingnut protest. Now they've apologized for their Comic-Con contest that painted them as booth babe objectifiers.
Which, you know, most of us are guilty as charged. But Electronic Arts, being the big corp it is, had to cover its ass and (likely) kick that of a marketing team that promised horny gamers "a sinful night with two hot girls, a limo service, paparazzi and a chest full of booty." This was also illustrated by a tramp-stamp logo atop some kind of crack, be it butt or boobs. UPDATE: They are boobs. Thank you observant and helpful Kotaku commenters.
So, the predictable furor arose, and now we get the following apology from the Dante Team, definitely vetted by corporate PR, probably examined by the legal division, and apparently written from another dimension in which exhibitor booths are staffed by a species known as the "costumed rep."
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 e-mail. "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 that it was all done in the spirit of the good natured fun of Comic-Con.
Dante Team Statement on Sin to Win [twitpic via Negative Gamer]