NEW YORK (WPIX)—
Facebook users often complain about " Mafia Wars" and "Farmville" because the world's 90 million players incessantly crowd their friends' walls with game-related gibberish.Now the social networking game is becoming more than a virtual irritant. It is annoying people in real life.
In Manhattan's East Village, a concrete marketing campaign has some pedestrians ticked off. The creators of "Mafia Wars" have painted tough-to-remove phony dollar bills on sidewalks in front of heavily trafficked stores. The idea is to pique pedestrians' curiosity and get them to sign up for the facebook game. The result hasn't been inspiring.
"I've always wondered what they were," said sales manager Robert Macaluso. "They look kind of obnoxious and just a mess, really."
High school student Saydi Flores said she disapproves of the sidewalk advertising campaign because makers of the "Mafia Wars" game are profiting by defacing public property.
"They're actually annoying me, especially on facebook. They shouldn't be doing this."
"Mafia Wars" and "Farmville" were created by a social gaming company called Zynga which is funded by Union Square Venture, a private investment company based in New York City. PIX 11 News reached out to Zynga to ask about the sidewalk marketing scheme. Representatives did not return our request for comment by the deadline for this article.
