Article: Microsoft courts trouble with viral marketing push.(Brief Article)

Microsoft is courting controversy over its viral marketing campaign for the Xbox360 game Perfect Dark Zero (PDZ).

In the viral ad campaign, created by digital agency AKQA, US visitors to a game-related website are invited to provide the name and e-mail address of a friend whom Joanne Dark, the female assassin star of the game, will "take care" of. The friend then receives an e-mail with a video attachment showing a body on a mortuary slab, the final image being a toe-tag with their name on.

The Perfect Dark Zero viral is similar to a campaign run by television channel Five to promote the UK launch of the CSI: New York TV series. As part of the ...

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