Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: deus ex, deus ex: mankind divided, eidos, eidos montreal, entertainment, games, Square Enix, video games

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Is In Hot Water For Possibly Appropriating 'Black Lives Matter' In Marketing

The Deus Ex: Mankind Divided marketing campaign has gotten into trouble before. The Augment your Pre-Order campaign was torn apart by fans before it was stopped, there has been talk of the title being ableist and the use of the phrase 'mechanical aparthied' has all meant the game hasn't been far from controversy.

Eidos Montreal have gotten themselves into some heat again today too with the release of this piece of concept art:

The controversy has started in response to the seeming appropriation of the Black Lives Matter movement for marketing purposes, as the art features the phrase Aug Lives Matters. This move was condemned by Bioware's Manveer Heir on Twitter, which got Deus Ex's executive brand director Andre Vu to respond.

Vu claims that the connection is purely coincidental as the game was in development for years. Heir fired back that even if that was true, the marketing team shouldn't have made the decision to use it in promotion, which is a solid point.

I'm not really the person to comment on anything like this, but it's certainly an important debate about the relationship between real life activism and fiction, especially as it pertains to marketing. You should dive in.

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