Andrew McCormick, revolutionmagazine.com, 30 October 2009, 1:07pm
LONDON - Firebox is attempting to tap into public fury at the Royal Mail strikes by creating a game that parodies the amassed backlog of undelivered mail.
The Royal Fail game challenges players to throw letters at delivery vans and at union leader Billy Hayes. On completion, the game says that by delivering letters you've made Hayes angry and then offers free courier delivery worth £4.95.
Firebox is hoping the game will help boost its sales in the run-up to Christmas and launched the game following unprecedented reaction to a banner on the site that included the term 'The Royal Fail'.
Online retailer Amazon, Royal Mail's second biggest customer, switched delivery companies earlier this month due to the strikes amid mounting public anger at the effect the strikes are having on delivery times.
Royal Mail claims to have reduced the backlog of mail from 30 million items to two million but that number could rise again should further strike action go ahead as planned.
The Game: http://www.theroyalfail.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;