The price of petrol has gone through the roof over the past couple of years, with increasing oil prices filtering through and hitting consumers at garage forecourts around the world. So when someone started giving away free petrol at a garage in London, hundreds of people queued up to get their tanks filled up without charge.

The people giving away the free petrol were games publisher EA, and the whole thing was merely a publicity stunt for new game Mercenaries 2: World In Flames, which was released on the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, and PC in Europe on September 5th. As publicity stunts go, this one clearly did its job.

The connection between the game and petrol is that fuel is sometimes used as a form of currency in Venezuela, the country in which the game is set. Mercenaries 2: World In Flames sees you playing the titular mercenaries as they fight for control of oil supplies in the country.

The Telegraph has a video report of the chaos this publicity stunt caused (embedded below), as well as interviews with the drivers queuing for free petrol as well as local residents and politicians who weren’t quite as pleased with the scheme as the lucky recipients.

Electornic Arts took over one garage in Finsbury Park, north London, for the day, and intended to give away £40,000 ($75,000) in free petrol on a first come, first served basis to drivers in the vicinity. The giveaway started at around 6.30am but was called to a halt by police at around 11am after queues for the free fuel had caused severe delays for miles around.

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, told The Guardian newspaper:

Trying to recreate Venezuelan-style fuel riots on the streets of London is completely irresponsible and downright dangerous. Whilst a lucky few might have got some free petrol, hundreds of local residents have faced misery on their daily journeys this morning. They deserve an apology.

This may have been just a publicity stunt, and one that caused a few people a few hours of misery, but it achieved two things: getting the headlines that EA wanted, and causing us all to once again question how the petrol companies can justify charging us all so much money for a gallon of fuel to power our vehicles. Especially when their profits are through the roof.

It’s no wonder electric cars such as the Chevy Volt are getting so much attention, most of it by Blorge’s own Matt Jansen.

Related:

Entry was posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 at 9:41 pm under Opinion.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
Stumble It!