By Na Jeong-ju
The National Police Agency (NPA) is drawing fire from SNS users over its decision to use characters from the popular mobile game Angry Birds for its ongoing campaign against school violence and bullying.
In the game, players launch birds with a slingshot to destroy pigs on the playing field. The game gained worldwide popularity among smartphone users for its addictive features and comical style, but there are jokes that the birds are “suicide attackers.”
“The game itself is fun to play, although it has some violent elements. My question is, is it appropriate for police to use the game characters for its anti-violence campaign?” a blogger named unimombaby wrote.
“As the mother of a child, I truly hope the use of the characters will be effective in preventing bullying and hazing at school. However, it is hard to imagine characters of the game as anti-violence PR ambassadors.”
A Twitter user @albiLee also wrote, “The birds in the game are used as tools to kill the pigs. It doesn’t seem to be a good idea to use them to promote an anti-violence campaign.”
Such negative reactions came after the NPA said Tuesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Rovio Entertainment, which developed the game, to use the characters for its anti-violence projects.
NPA chief Cho Hyun-oh wrote on his Twitter account that police want to use the characters, which are familiar among teenagers, in their efforts to create a better learning environment at schools.
Critics say that’s ironic given that the government has blamed violent online games for increasing bullying at school.
The government plans to expand the so-called cooling-off system, which automatically disconnects youths from online game sites after two hours in order to curb the harmful effects of violent games on adolescents. The country already introduced an online game “shutdown system,” which limits teenagers under 16 from logging onto game sites from midnight to 6 a.m.
“It’s funny that police are using game characters to fight violence at school after the government linked bullying among peers to game addiction among youths,” blogger ppojok3 wrote.