bond, vladimir bond: Putin fury after russian pm's face is used for 007 game posters in moscow
by
daily mail reporter
last updated at 2:06 pm on 15th july 2011
a poster showing russian prime minister vladimir putin as britain's finest trained killer and spy james bond has caused a right royale bust-up.
Creators of a russian online game asked fans to produce an image promoting their product but one over-exuberant fan has pasted their effort all over central moscow to the anger of the country's government.
An unknown designer copied the iconic image used for casino royale with daniel craig holding a gun, but replaced craig's head with that of russia's most powerful man.
in trouble: Vladimir putin is furious his image has been linked to trained killer and spy james bond
the publicity stunt seems to have backfired by game designer xquest.ru, which sets players tasks to do in the real world, and led to players creating their own advertising.
Putin's office today promised recriminations.
'we don’t know who is behind this, but this action borders on hooliganism,' his spokesman dmitry peskov said.
public: The posters have been placed all over russia's capital
he added that the moscow government’s committee for advertising will deal with the issue and the company.
On the poster, along with putin holding the gun, the text says: “xquest.ru presents vladimir putin in all cinemas from july 15'
putin’s image has frequently been used by firms to attract attention to their products, as well as by political activists.
task: One gamer took instructions too literally and pasted his controversial poster across central moscow, including in this bus stop
he was the face of a nightclub in moscow, was featured in another online game and starred alongside president medvedev in a sportswear advert.
Almost always putin has taken legal action against those who try to exploit his image for profit.
Producer at xquest.ru pavel rakhman, who helped design the game, said they were worried about the consequences even though they were not technically responsible.
'everything was okay until yesterday when someone decided to stick posters up around the city.
'we got the information about this when we came to the office in the morning. We found an e-mail from an unknown address in our mailbox. The guy had written: "well, i have stuck up posters. If i win, write to me at this address." then we tried many times to write to him, but there is still no answer.'
rakhman hopes that they have not caused any damage, though if necessary, the team is ready to be responsible for the posters.
Bond, Vladimir Bond
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