Earlier in the year, we spotted an advertising campaign from Gillette that shamelessly ripped off the Firewatch logo. Now, in an even more bizarre and blatant case of stolen property, a Ford dealership in Quincy, Massachusetts has used an actual Firewatch promotional image from their website for an advertising campaign, as highlighted by publisher Panic:
😒 Ahh, remember when Henry and Delilah were excited about the Ford Freedom Sales Event? #ripoffexpress @camposanto pic.twitter.com/kF5wZnH1ZT
— Panic Inc (@panic) June 27, 2016
While lifting the actual art seems like the worse offence it’s likely that the dealership was acting independently of Ford, and it was probably a family member or an intern who got a bit overzealous with the copy and paste to produce the copyright faux pas. While they obviously weren’t best pleased about the transgression, Firewatch developer Campo Santo at least responded in good cheer, with an advert for Firewatch containing Henry’s pickup (which could very well be a Ford):
Firewatch is in the Steam Summer Sale! 33% off until July 4th! Come on down! https://t.co/2riyY7ybBmpic.twitter.com/TIX2Xvze6Q
— Campo Santo (@camposanto) June 28, 2016
On the other hand Firewatch artist Olly Moss was – quite rightly – far less pleased with Gillette’s pretty damn cynical clone of the game’s carefully crafted and impactful logo:
I am usually the last person to call this sort of thing out, but this example seems particularly egregious to me. pic.twitter.com/cYfNebqjV1
— Olly Moss (@ollymoss) June 10, 2016
Ah, internet, you never fail to disappoint.
Thinking of picking up a truck Firewatch in the summer sales? Read our Firewatch review.
