Promotional campaigns often include a challenge. Sometimes it’s a prize for winning a competition. Sometimes it’s a sweepstakes. They seldom require too much investment.
But Blizzard, the company behind the video game “Diablo IV,” is requiring a blood sacrifice if gamers want a branded PC with real human blood in it.
This spooky season, video gaming company Blizzard is touching on the gore of “Diablo IV” by giving gamers a chance to win a “Diablo IV”-branded PC that supposedly contains real human blood as part of its cooling system in exchange for a blood donation.
The campaign is called the “Diablo IV Blood Harvest” blood drive, and the company is hoping the campaign will result in 666 quarts of blood (really leaning into the theme of the game).
In addition to in-game rewards, a sticker (of course), there will be a sweepstakes for the branded PC unit once the goal is reached. So far, the campaign is at 40% of its goal.
Whether or not it’s real human blood in the PC is sort of irrelevant. It’s enough to draw attention to the campaign and maybe entice some people to give blood.
Diablo IV players, want to do some good and get some in-game swag? All you need to do is donate blood. Until November 20th, US-based players over 18 can visit a blood center and provide proof of donation to Blizzard as part of its “Diablo Blood Harvest.”https://t.co/GETnAAmX7Q pic.twitter.com/IGVjzwv0wb
— PCMag (@PCMag) October 23, 2023
Not that people need much more incentive than they already have. Blood donations through the American Red Cross have been boosted by fun giveaway items like Shark Week tie-ins or cute Snoopy apparel.
This also isn’t the first time we’ve seen real blood used in a promotion before. Liquid Death mixed skateboarding legend Tony Hawk’s real blood in with red ink for a screen printed promotional skateboard. There was also, of course, Lil Nas X’s Nike promo that supposedly included real blood in the sole, which sparked plenty of outrage and controversy.
This promotion includes a clear call-to-action, a quantifiable goal, and a strong theme that ties in with “Diablo IV.”
Whether there’s real blood in there is irrelevant. The winner won’t break it open to verify it. All that matters is that we’re talking about it, thinking about it, and maybe even donating some blood in the hopes of winning it.
