THQ fights GTA fever with 'Forget Grand Theft Auto' ad campaign

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Saints Row: The Third google ads attached to GTA V searches

Here's a neat experiment: try typing Grand Theft Auto V, GTA V, or any combination thereof into your google bar (assuming you haven't already been doing so already). See the ad to the right of your results? The one telling you to “Forget Grand Theft Auto” and go directly to Saints Row: The Third's website? That, as you've probably deduced by now, is THQ's not-so-subtle way of capitalizing on today's GTA V buzz and reminding gamers that Rockstar doesn't have the monopoly on sandbox crime games.

It's a sneaky move, but it's also a smart one. Nearly every gamer with an internet connection will be searching for GTA V today, and with less than two weeks to go before Saints Row: The Third launches on November 15th (November 18th in the UK), this is the perfect opportunity to use that hype to THQ's advantage. There's also the theory THQ is worried a GTA V announcement will affect Saints Row: The Third's sales, but it's doubtful gamers will hold off buying one game for another that might not even arrive until 2013. What do you think are the motives behind THQ's latest marketing strategy?

Source: PlayStation Lifestyle

Matt Bradford

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.