North Korea Attacks - Homefront Ad Scares YouTube Visitors

Australian visitors of YouTube on Friday might have noticed the big video banner splashed across the top of the homepage – “BREAKING NEWS: North Korea Attacks”. This was not in fact real world news but a video for the upcoming THQ game Homefront; it still however scared a few people when they saw this, not knowing that it was actually an advertisement.

[electricshadow]

Ha, that's pretty funny. The point of the ad is to get people's attention and it looked like it did exactly that.

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Also, the trailer for the game is awesome. Reminded me of the 'video package' from Die Hard 4.0

[I_find_it_funny]

I call bull.. on this. I don't feel it made me want the game more.
Im not shocked, I'm more meh

It felt kinda unnecessary and forced and cheap

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Like I said, I enjoyed the trailer and I'm sure the Korea ad got people talking about it (as intended) but I'm not interested in the game, haven't even thought about getting it. It's just your run of the mill military shooter.

[nveenio]

This actually makes me interested in the game...not as a purchase, but maybe as a rental. I'll definitely be watching review scores.

[MaxXAttaxX]

Considering North Korea has real WMDs, I can't help but keep feeling like we're wasting time in this oil-war.

[AAACE5]

"Don't be so gullible McFly!"

[ChrisW]

While it's an interesting advertisement, how can someone actually believe that it's real?!? I sense irony/sarcasm. Nothing more.

[Spitfire_Riggz]

Isnt this like the 3rd time they get peoples attention in a bad way??

[RedDead]

Well...it's better than "Kids! Your mom hates this Game"

[Projekt7tuning]

Wouldn't it be kind of screwed up if North Korea used the timing of this add to commence an actual attack?
Or if gullible people in South Korea believing this add to be true, tried some type of retaliatory action. Maybe even create a false anxiety for South Koreans.
Luckily I'm naive enough to believe the people of South Korea are way too smart to believe this to be a real news headline.

[lil Titan]

its about time they made a game similar to red dawn, hope they do a good job

[Darth_Bane79]

THEY GOT PUNK'd! LMFAO!!!

[hiredhelp]

that add looked nothing like a real report .the break up in signal and are the reporters the same as you get over there. i suspect not.

[xXSilentXx]

those kind of people make me sick!

[TapiocaMilkTea]

While its the best way to catch attention, it is not creative nor clever at all.....
This is a cheap and dirty way to get attention, hoping the ad will stirs up controversy with political leaders and get it banned, so it can make it to yahoo frontpage or headline news in the process, regardless of the quality of the game.
Those of us that finds the ad funny are those that take for granted that they are living in the peaceful part of the world where they can surf youtube and play video games....

[DangerTick]

Youtube is full of gullible people and trolls (and gullible trolls).

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Was my sarcastic reaction.

[DarkSpawnClone]

"Youtube is full of gullible people and trolls"

exactly just look at all those 2012 were all doomed videos,gullible people indeed put a video on youtube make it sound serious and bam you fooled everyone..these people do it for the laughs it's sick but to see people try scare tactics to sell a video game is really low imo...never believe every thing you read or watch or see on the internet.

[OdinFallen]

So is this site unfortunately.

[ATiElite]

Youtube is full of gullible people and trolls (and gullible trolls).

well not really!! As of late Youtube has been the only reliable source to get unfiltered news and info from many countries around the world such as Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen during these Freedom Protest.

Granted this was a hoax but I've seen more info on Libya bombing it's own people than what the news is showing.

[NiKK_419]

Yes, but that doesn't mean that the people who comment on youtube aren't still gullible and trolls, because I know this site is bad, but damn YouTube is way worse...WAY worse

[CYBERSNAKE]

I seriously fear for the human race!

[TrevorPhillips]

When I first saw this banner on youtube, I was like WTF? There's a fight between the Koreans and some other nations, where was this on the news, because I always check the news, even though all media stations are being controlled by the Globalist elites aka Illuminati, then I saw Homefront and I was like shewwww lol,

[Ravenor]

"because I always check the news, even though all media stations are being controlled by the Globalist elites aka Illuminati"

"because I always check the news, even though all media stations are being controlled by the Globalist elites"

"because I always check the news, even though all media stations are being controlled"

"because I always check the news"

You honestly feel the news is being controlled by the illuminati and yet still continue to watch? Are you masochistic too? Keep your tinfoil hat handy.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

@Agent I am amazed you posted your obvious stupidity on the internet... again.

[clrlite]

Don't worry about them. They can't understand why someone who believes what you do(if you even really believe that) would watch the news. I doubt they could figure out that you might not take everything 100% seriously. They laugh at you for espousing an idea that is a bit unconventional, and call you niave, yet they probably believe everything they have been fed since childhood.

On Topic: I am not at all interested in this game, and no marketing gimmick is going to change that. The conventional military FPS genre is milked dry to me and it will soon be the same way for everyone else probably. It might be great for all I know, I'm just not interested at the moment.

[hesido]

There's always a conspiracy, I'm not being sarcastic. It would be naive to believe that governments are fully transparent, that every global power is doing its thing out in the open. It is just that, the people who are conspiring may not be few, and may not have similar agendas. There are probably many forces trying to advance their separate agendas, under the radar. So, we are looking at a more complex picture than a bunch of illuminati guys doing their thing. That's why we can never pin point the source of conspiracies.

[clrlite]

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't make too many assumptions about anything like that for too long. Having a polarized one sided view point can definitely obscure a lot of things, well said.
It can be said though, that once a person has been accustomed to a one-sided viewpoint for most of their lifetime and they find out it may be wrong, they may pick up the exact dichotomous opposite viewpoint because the person is so used to polarity. People like to take sides as well, perhaps it is some primitive part of human nature. "If one side is wrong, then the opposing side must be right"
If one side is lies, the other must be truth." If one body of dogma or tradition betrayed me, one with the opposite ideals must be my home"

[Folezicle]

Reminds me of Welle's "War of the Worlds" broadcast.. Hah but this no way near of an impact.

[Pozzle]

The ad made me go "WTF" when I saw it. I obviously didn't think North Korea had attacked America, but for a moment I thought they might have attacked a nearby nation after all their threats they've been making recently.
Then I saw the Homefront logo and I felt stupid. :O

[Maester07]

It never ceases to amaze me how utterly gullible people are. Yes, please wait until our current story is over and THEN we'll tell you about how our country is under attack.

[whydoyouask]

It kind of reminds me of that Russia Invades Georgia thing that happened a couple of years ago...

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Some people clearly need to disconnect from the Internet and go outside to play.

[Kran]

Haha. It's War of the Worlds all over again :P

[HINDERIZATION]

lol exactly my thoughts X)

[Jack-Pyro]

You mean "The Night that Panicked America"

[RastaCC]

I like that it scared people. Myabe they will be a little more thankful for the freedoms they have. However, I don't think people will do that. Too many people here do fanboy madlibs instead..

"The ______ is better and ______ sucks. The best exclusives are on _______ ."

[HINDERIZATION]

The -Pie- is better and -Cake- sucks. The best exclusives are on -PS3- :P

[Stevo91]

people need to get a grip if they where worried serously

[HINDERIZATION]

sounds like when War of the Worlds was broadcasted on the radio and people went crazy since they thought it was a real alien invasion happening.

[Der_Kommandant]

Stupid People

[sickbird]

hahaha i think thats great. I like the person saying "it was offensive" cmon now, people are offended way to easily GROW A PAIR AND MOVE ON!

[Shackdaddy836]

lol. THQ is advertising homefront in such awesome ways.

[Shackdaddy836]

"I find the front page advertisement for "HomeFront" on Youtube to be offensive. I thought North Korea had actually attacked."

How is this offensive at all? You mean since you actually believed it, the banner made you feel stupid right?

[hellzsupernova]

i went on youtube hoping it would happen LOL. the dev diary is pretty good for this game! but the 5 hour long cmapaign is kind of worrying i cannot justify a purchase on multiplayer alone.

[Serinous]

excited to play it soon

[Wardog1368]

I think people are justified in thinking North Korea attacked South Korea as their initial reaction. However, believing it longer than 30 seconds shocks me.

[kuroukage]

If people are stupid enough to believe a ludicrous story like this then they deserve to be scared. Kim Jong Il's son suddenly takes over after his father's death and leads them to world domination...really? Every time I think about it I can't help but laugh.

[Pozzle]

The ad didn't say that though. It didn't have any in-game footage either. It was just a clip of Hilary Clinton talking to the press with the subtitle "Breaking news: North Korea attacks". It looked legit (duh! it was supposed to) and that's why people fell for it.

[ablecain]

Someone should slap these marketing teams and try to knock some common sense into them.

[zeeshan810]

Companies hire Marketing team so their ads stand out or gets attention. They got our attention.

[tunaks1]

man whats up with poorly thought out game ads these days?
We can add THQ's marketing team to the list, right beside EAs.

and this game looks so generic, when oh when will military shooters covered in brown disappear?

[Ducky]

Why is it poorly thought out?

Homefront is trying to push for an emotional narrative, and the youtube ad sure did a good job of stirring some emotion.

As for the brown genericness, meh... hoping Brink changes that. =/

[Undeadwolfy]

Lol at the right of the screenshot, "Charlie Sheen Winning Songify"... still winning I see

[Organization XII]

I dont plan on getting Homefront, im not interested either, but I salute THQ for their marketing campaign!

[Killzone3___]

''GT5 Ad scares YouTube Visitors because it looks realistic'''
the graphics in homefront isn't good , who the hell wouldn't knowthat this is not agame..

[NeloAnjelo]

One word... Noobs

[mdkgod43]

if you couldnt tell this was a videogame then your dumb

[Run_bare]

I actually believe it when I saw it first, until I Google it a bit more and find out it was a fake.

I actually feel panic in the first few minutes and try to call my Korean friends. I usually find this funny, but this is too close to my heart and it make me disinterested in the game.

Maybe I feel too much into it, but it's OK, there is plenty of other games to keep me entertained.

[ironwolf777]

As the gaming industry over takes the movie & music industry dollars were going to see a lot more of these extreme PR fiascos.

[xVeZx]

i use adblock on firefox so i didnt see it...

[HIV-]

When I saw it on YouTube, I crapped my pants!! I didn't even notice that it was an ad till the the end,when it said "Homefront".

During the whole ad I was like, Fuuuuuk another war and this time it's gonna be nuclear war and end of humanity,etc,etc...

[TheXonySbox]

some bad marketing right there...

[Hozi89]

So how many Americans ready to fight for your country? Even though I don't live in the US, I can't wait to kick some serious K ass. North Korea really.

[pnoozi]

Too bad the game sucks

[SuperbVillain]

lmao that hilarious