Absoloo, the French e-retailer of XXX items, has come out with a generous offer to accompany the recent release of Blizzard Entertainment's fantasy game Diablo III.
Making the very stereotyped assumption that only men play video games, Absoloo is urging women—video-game widows, they call them—to snap a photo of themselves holding the Diablo III box, then post that photo to the sex-toy seller's Facebook page to receive a coupon code for a free vibrator.
There are so many strange components here, it's difficult to know who is coming out on top. Is it Absoloo, who is surely getting some big publicity thanks to this stunt? Is it the women, who are getting free sex toys? Is it Blizzard Entertainment, who is clearly doing well, if this is the kind of raunchy remediation needed in the wake of its big release?
To recap: Electronic entertainment robs women of male attention —> vibrator-hawking website solicits Diablo-promoting Facebook photos —> photos are uploaded —> code is sent —> vibrators arrive, free of charge.
Is this how the human race expires? A clue of what's to come? Is this great, or is it crazy?
*Sorry to say, this offer is currently open only to game "widows" in France. Alas. [DailyMail, Kotaku]