A couple months back, nervous Bostonians called the cops after seeing some sketchy looking devices, blinking all sinister-like, attached to the underside of bridges and overpasses.

Bomb squads were called and the downtown core was closed--until closer inspection revealed the devices to look an awful lot like a cartoon character giving the finger.

This guerilla marketing stunt for the stoner television-turned-movie franchise Aqua Teen Hunger Force seemed like a lock for this year’s most misguided publicity stunt.

Not no more. 

Last weekend, the UK Daily Mail sparked a scandal when it reported that Sony had procured a decapitated goat for use as a grotesque prop at a March launch party for their badass, mythology-based God of War II (they also procured topless women, snakes and, presumably, souvlaki, but those caused less of an uproar).

Not only was the dead goat splayed across the snack table, invited guests were challenged to eat as much warm offal as possible. But turns out the reporter wasn’t actually at the party--he merely reported that the Official Playstation Magazine was reporting on the party--the piece was based on the hyperbolic invite, the goat was returned to a local butcher afterwards and the innards were actually "traditional" Greek meat soup (though I take that to mean it was filled with, um, innards).

Still, the brouhaha caused Sony to recall 80,000 copies of the magazine, issue abject apologies and launch an internal inquiry to find out who‘s the heck is in charge of party-planning. But the mea culpa was hardly warranted. Though they could've, and should've, used a faux-goat, Sony rightly pointed out the event was a “theatrical dramatization of a Greek mythological theme”--as far as the violence goes, their classical myths are hardly filled with rainbows and kittens--and while distasteful, it's not like Sony sacrificed a goat in front of everyone.

But the sensationalistic story made its way into newspapers and websites around the world, further confirming the mainstream press' unquenchable hard-on for treating the gaming industry like it was ‘80s heavy metal or ‘90s gangsta rap.

Also slammed in the Daily Mail piece for no discernable reason was the embattled Rockstar gaming crew who've already tempted fate by sending critics wire garrotes for their 2004 Manhunt game and for its upcoming sequel I've already been mailed a couple bloody bracelets from a hospital for the criminally insane.

Can’t hardly wait to read the coverage of that launch party.