Atlus PR manager defies genetic programming, exhibits sense of humor

The nature of the public relations man is well known. Grown as pupating, translucent-skinned embryos from specimen cells scraped off the corpse of an interstellar ravisher of worlds known only as Jenova, they are the slithering appendages of an Eldritch thing which believes it can reshape the very nature of reality through the medium of press releases and disseminating email blasts. They are soulless creatures of exquisite malevolence, and all that comes from the stretched, pink rictus of their lips are lies.

That is not to say, though, that the occasional PR man doesn't exhibit a deft sense of humor. After three of their unannounced titles were accidentally leaked on the ESRB's website, Atlus' Aram Jabbari sent Silicon Era a wonderful little joke press release, claiming that they'd be announcing all future titles in this fashion from now on.

Here's a snip:

“Our experiment has been a rousing success,” said Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales, beaming. “Allowing information about our upcoming titles to be silently posted on ESRB’s website has been a triumph, and we’ve decided to abandon all direct, overt disclosures of our future games in favor of quietly allowing the posting of new titles onto ESRB.org. Every other publisher puts their press releases out there in the same distribution channel, and sometimes the news gets overlooked. By sneaking all future game announcements onto the ESRB website for just a handful of passionate editors to find, we distance ourselves from industry conventions.”

All joking aside, PR managers have a difficult job: to manage the unmanageable flux of public reaction. Their bosses never think they're doing enough, while at the same time they are reviled (only seldom secretly) by the very press which forms public relations' symbiote. The difference between a company perceived by the gaming press as thoughtful of its customers wishes and having a good sense of humor oftentimes comes down to the nature of a single PR guy toiling away in a cubicle somewhere.

Kudos to Aram Jabbari. Not that three unannounced Atlas titles getting accidentally leaked qualifies as a public relations nightmare, but handling unexpected little crises with a tongue rooted firmly in cheek is a much better palliative than cease-and-desists.

Atlus has a sense of humor about ESRB Leaks [Silicon Era]