Syncrude iPhone game dismissed as propaganda
CBC News
Posted: Nov 8, 2012 6:54 AM MT
Last Updated: Nov 8, 2012 6:52 AM MT
Oilsands giant Syncrude believes its new iPhone game Trail Blazer is a fun way to share information about the company.
"It's a little like Bejewelled or Angry Birds," said Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson.
Syncrude Trail Blazer features a bison who snowboards, skis and hang glides his way around Fort McMurray. (Syncrude/iTunes Store )"It's a fun, mindless way to spend a few minutes while you're waiting for your bus to be picked up and along the way you learn a little bit about Syncrude. How are we responsibly developing the oilsands."
The game features a cartoon bison that snowboards, bikes and hang-glides its way around Fort McMurray.
The player earns points by grabbing golden coins and at the end of each game, a factoid pops up about Syncrude and its work in the oilsands.
"We saw it as kind of a fun way where people of all ages could learn a little bit about our operation," Gibson said.
But environmentalists say the game leaves out references to climate change and doesn't tell the whole story.
"There is a huge propaganda war being waged by the oil industry in Canada to convince Canadians that it's good for us economically, it's good for the environment," said John Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada.
"But the problem is that's just not true."
But Gibson said that the game was created to answer questions for people in northern Alberta.
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