Branded pigeons invade Wimbledon

Fowl in your face

By Ashlee Vance, 23rd June 2003

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LogoWatch Would you buy a video game because a pigeon told you too?

Game maker Acclaim hopes the answer is an emphatic, "yes". It plans to invade this week's Wimbledon championship with twenty Virtua Tennis 2 branded birds, the BBC reports. The homing pigeons will fly down during pre-match warmups, sporting spray-painted logos, and then return to a secret location in south west London.

Acclaim officials assured the BBC that no harm would come to the birds. The flying rats will merely be coated in a water-based paint.

The Lawn Tennis Association has received warning about the prank, but doesn't see any problems. Let the flying marketeers loose.

Acclaim admits the stunt may cause more than a few servings of strawberries and cream to be ruined by pigeon droppings.

"The Wimbledon tournament is famous for the occasional descent by pigeons on to Centre Court, but our advertising pigeons are trained to go straight for the fans and flap their logos in front of them," Larry Sparks, vice president of marketing at Acclaim, told the BBC.

It seems a tad aggressive to send the pigeons right at the fans, especially in a sport as civilized at tennis. This is, however, the same company that asked people to change their name to Turok to promote a game by the same name.

On a side note, IBM will again be hosting the Wimbledon Web site. Big Blue provides this service for every grand slam and does a good job of it. ®