Isn't viral marketing awesome? You can pay someone to get themselves into trouble with the local police, all for the media attention that it will bring to your product. In New Zealand, a stupid PR (public relations) idea for Splinter Cell: Conviction became an international news item: according to reports, a man in bandages began randomly pointing a fake gun at people in the Viaduct Basin of Auckland. I'm pretty sure these people aren't going to run down to the store for their copy of the game anytime soon.
It's a wonder the PR subcontractor with the fake gun wasn't killed by a police officer or some gung-ho passerby with a sturdy umbrella. A note to the unnamed company that decided to try this little social experiment: the next time you're going to represent a triple-A co-op game by sending someone to the ire of armed cops, do it with two co-op PR idiots.