Bad Company 2 Ultro-Spoof Win

Okay, this is absolutely brilliant. My affections are always available for the high price of a really good gag, and EA/DICE just bought mine for Bad Company 2 with their fantastic spoof of Modern Warfare 2's painfully awkward Fight Against Grenade Spam video. The original video featured heroic Phillies (baseball) pitcher Cole Hamel presenting a PSA-style advert about the problems of grenade spamming in Modern Warfare. It was a cute idea, made hideous by the astonishingly ill-advised decision to use the acronym "FAGS" - as if there isn't enough of that word being screamed over Xbox Live already. With a deft touch, DICE continue their PR assault on Activision's cash-cow (following on from their announcement they'd be releasing free Bad Company 2 DLC on the same day MW2's first DLC map pack appears) with this piss-take. See both below.

Okay, so here's the original. Be warned, it features the fine Mr Hamel saying some naughty swears:

So what makes DICE's spoof so brilliant is not just that it pokes fun at the original, but simultaneously steals the original's idea for itself. That's some fine renegade marketing. They even fix the acronym horror in a way that should make all at Activision put their faces in their palms. It's also very funny, even though it features a Yankees pitcher. (I feel like I should be posting this later when the Americans are up - I'm really wasting a lot of effort annoying idiot Yankees fans at this time of day. See, even CC Sabathia is too embarrassed to wear a real Yankees hat, or even say his team's name. In fact, he even implies he's a Mets pitcher, to my ears.) Here it is:

It should probably be added, sadly, that as PC Gamer reports, today might not be too good a day for Bad Company 2, with the new patch apparently introducing new serious bugs.