How Grand Theft Auto Jacked the House of Lords – Wired (2012)

TITLE
How Grand Theft Auto Jacked the House of Lords

AUTHOR
David Kushner

PUBLICATION
Wired

YEAR
2012

ARTICLE TYPE
Book Excerpt

FROM THE ARTICLE
In the United Kingdom, publicists didn’t get much bigger or more controversial than Max Clifford. Having built his career representing everyone from Frank Sinatra to Muhammad Ali, the quick-witted, silver-haired Clifford had become, as one journalist put it, “a master manipulator of the tabloid media.”

Perhaps most notoriously, Clifford resurrected singer Freddie Starr’s concert tour in 1986 by planting the sensational headline “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” in the Sun. Like the rumor of Ozzy Osbourne biting off the head a bat, the story generated so much attention that it sold out Starr’s tour.

The decision by the marketing team at BMG Interactive to hire such a powerful publicist—let alone a specialist in scandal—was unheard of in the game industry in 1997. BMG, with roots in the music business, thought a bit of rock-and-roll flair might do justice to their little punk game.

GAMES MENTIONED
Grand Theft Auto

PEOPLE MENTIONED
Sam Houser
David Jones

EXCERPTED FROM
Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto

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