UNICO: We ruined the Mafia II launch
Italian Americans against "ethnic bashing".
UNICO, the Italian-American collective that recently accused Take-Two of racism, claims to have ruined the New York launch of Mafia II.
"I have no doubt our efforts resulted in the Mafia II Launch Party, at the 92nd Street Y's Tribeca Center, being a dismal failure," spouted UNICO leader Andre DiMino.
The launch, according to UNICO, was attended by "a sparse group of mostly young people", and no Take-Two executives were anywhere in sight - "least of all [Take-Two boss] Strauss Zelnick".
DiMino's organisation "pounded away" at the event's host location to "cancel the event as inappropriate" in the week leading up to launch. Take-Two was also harried for "demeaning and stereotyping Italian Americans".
"I believe the combined result of our activities was that, without acknowledging our efforts, both Take-Two and the 92nd Street Y became very hesitant to heavily promote ethnic bashing in this very public way," claimed DiMino.
"The lack of media coverage for the launch party is another indicator that they pulled back on promoting this event."