Hideo Kojima once again surprised fans with a non-standard approach to promoting Death Stranding 2. Branded napkins with the game's logo were handed out to passersby on the streets of Tokyo for free. Inside each was a QR code leading to a mysterious trailer for the project.
According to Kojima, the idea was inspired by traditional Japanese advertising methods, where small souvenirs were handed out to people on the streets to draw attention to a new product. But in practice, things didn't go as planned.
"Almost no one wanted to take them. People avoided eye contact and walked around us," he admitted. The developer attributed the failure to the consequences of the pandemic and the fact that people have become accustomed to digital advertising.
After the story about the promotion appeared on the Internet, all the napkins were quickly taken apart. Kojima noted:
"It was a gesture against modern trends, but the combination of offline and online worked best."
