Hitman 2: Letter-Writing Campaign

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Letter Writing Campaign
On Monday, Eidos Interactive agreed to remove offensive material from the video game Hitman 2 in future releases. However, the company still declined to recall existing games due to contract concerns with retailers. SikhNet, along with other Sikh organizations, have organized a letter-writing campaign requesting that retailers act in a socially-responsible manner and refuse to carry the game until Eidos has revised content that is objectionable to the Sikh community. Please email or fax the letter below to retailers that carry the game to show your support of the game being recalled from the shelves.

Also, please send a letter to your elected officials, asking their support in this effort to recall the game Hitman 2.

Send Letter to Retailer

Send Letter to Elected Officials


Read copies of both letters below:


Retail Letter

We urge you in the strongest possible terms to act in a socially responsible manner and remove Hitman 2 from your shelves. The game trains its users to kill not some fantasy-created bad guys, but to kill Sikhs, an ethnic and religious group numbering 26 million people.

If this game is allowed today, then any religious group and any place of worship such as a Synagogue, a Church or a Mosque, may become the next setting for violence and bloodshed in the name of entertainment.

A coalition of interfaith, human rights and religious organizations, led by the Sikh community, urgently asks that you help us by doing the following:

1. Immediately remove Hitman 2 from your shelves and stop selling it.
2. Remove all Eidos Interactive titles from your shelves until they recall Hitman 2 from the market.

In a world climate where racial and religious intolerance claims thousands of lives every day, the Sikh community is appalled by images and text in the sniper-themed videogame Hitman 2 portraying Sikhs being killed within their most prominent temple, the Harimander Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple.

Please go to www.sikhnet.com/s/HItman2VideoCampaign for background information about the game and images from the game.

This game is developed and distributed by Eidos Interactive. Eidos’s choice to target a specific religious group in Hitman 2 is not only socially irresponsible, but also potentially dangerous to Sikhs worldwide, as their turbans have made them the focus of backlash attacks in the post-September 11th environment.

Those in the corporate community have a responsibility to create an environment that embraces different appearances, cultures and religions, and makes us all proud that we can achieve harmony within our society.

Sikhs strongly believe in honest work, equality of humankind, service to the community, and a common God to all. Yet the videogame, Hitman 2, being sold in your stores engages in a vicious campaign of intolerance that may affect us all. Hitman 2 is one of the worst “hate games” on the market today. The game trains its users to kill not some fantasy-created bad guys, but an ethnic and religious group numbering 26 million people. By taking a stand now, you are helping to prevent future development of games that fall into the “hate” category.

As parents and concerned citizens, we are doing everything that we can to help our community, and we are also making great efforts to help our communities feel safe. However, we cannot do this alone. This game promotes violence and intolerance not just against Sikhs, but against all ethnic and religious groups. If this game is allowed today, then any religious group and any place of worship such as a Synagogue, a Church or a Mosque, may become the next setting for violence and bloodshed in the name of entertainment. By focusing on a religious minority and setting the violence in our sacred shrine, Hitman 2 mindlessly encourages racial and religious prejudice.

We cannot allow videogame developers to use sacred religious settings to promote killings and intolerance. We cannot allow this videogame to continue to fan the fires or racism and religious intolerance. The urgency of our joint efforts is highlighted even more by the tragic sniper shootings that have occurred near Washington DC.

Please act immediately and remove Hitman 2 from your shelves, showing that your company is committed to religious tolerance and social responsibility.

Sincerely, <Your name here>


Elected Official Letter

Please come forward publicly and support our efforts to recall the video game Hitman 2. This game promotes violence and intolerance not only against Sikhs, but against all ethnic and religious groups.

If this game is allowed today, then any religious group and any place of worship such as a Synagogue, a Church or a Mosque, may become the next setting for violence and bloodshed in the name of entertainment.

A coalition of interfaith, human rights and religious organizations, led by the Sikh community, urgently asks that you help us by doing the following:

1. Support our efforts to have the game removed by contacting the President of Eidos Interactive in San Francisco, Robert Dyer, (415) 547-1200 and expressing your concern about the social impact of the game.

2. Contact any of the executives from retailers carrying the game (please see the list below) and request that they remove the game from their shelves and refuse to carry any Eidos Interactive game until Hitman 2 is recalled.

Please go to www.sikhnet.com/s/HItman2VideoCampaign for background information about the game and images from the game.

In a world climate where racial and religious intolerance claim thousands of lives every day, the Sikh community is appalled by images in this sniper-themed video game Hitman 2 of Sikhs being killed within their most prominent temple, the Harimander Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple. This game is developed and distributed by Eidos Interactive. Eidos’s choice to target a specific religious group in Hitman 2 is not only socially irresponsible, but also potentially dangerous to Sikhs worldwide.

As an elected official, we are asking that you help create an environment that embraces different appearances, cultures and religions, and makes us all proud that we can achieve harmony within our society. Sikhs strongly believe in honest work, equality of humankind, service to the community, and a common God to all. Yet the videogame, Hitman 2, engages in a vicious campaign of intolerance that may affect us all.

This game promotes violence and intolerance not just against Sikhs, but against all ethnic and religious groups. If this game is allowed today, then any religious group and any place of worship such as a Synagogue, a Church or a Mosque, may become the next setting for violence and bloodshed in the name of entertainment. By focusing on a religious minority and setting the violence in our sacred shrine, Hitman 2 mindlessly encourages racial and religious prejudice. We cannot allow videogame developers to use sacred religious settings to promote killings and intolerance. We cannot allow this video game to continue to fan the fires or racism and religious intolerance.

Please help us as we call on Eidos Interactive and retailers worldwide to act in a socially responsible manner and either recall Hitman 2 or have it removed from retail shelves. The urgency of our joint efforts is highlighted even more by the tragic sniper shootings that have occurred near Washington DC.

Sincerely, <Your name here>


Retail Stores Carrying Hitman 2: Contact Information
EBAY and HALF.COM:
Phone: (408) 376-7400 Fax: (408) 376-7401
Meg Whitman, Pres and CEO
Kevin Pursglove, Media Relations
408/376-7458 [email protected]

KB TOYS
KB Holdings, Inc., the parent corporation, is a privately held company headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Phone: (413) 496-3000
FAX: 413-496-3601
Michael L. Glazer, President and CEO
Mark Scott, Executive Vice President

TOYS R US
Phone: (201) 262-7800
FAX: 201-262-8112
John Eyler, Jr., Chairman, Pres, CEO
John Barbour, Exec. VP; Pres of Toys "R" Us International

TARGET
Phone: (612) 304-6073
Fax: (612) 696-3731

Robert Ulrich
Chairman, CEO; Chairman and CEO of Target Stores
Gregg Steinhafel
Pres of Target Stores

CIRCUIT CITY
Phone: (804) 527-4000
Fax: (804) 527-4164
W. Alan McCollough,
Chairman, Pres, CEO
John Froman,
COO, Exec. VP

SEARS
Phone: (847) 286-2500
Fax: (847) 286-7829

Alan Lacy
Chairman, Pres, CEO

Mary Conway
Pres of Stores

Janine Bousquette
Exec. VP and Chief Customer and Marketing Officer

BEST BUY
also own Suncoast Motion Picture- Sam Goody - MediaPlay
Phone: (952) 947-2000
Fax: (952) 947-2694

Richard Schulze
Chairman, CEO, Director

Allen Lenzmeier
Pres, COO, Director

Michael Keskey
Pres of Best Buy Stores

EB GAMES
Phone: (610) 430-8100
Fax: (610) 430-6574

James Kim
Chairman

Jeffrey Griffiths
Pres, CEO, Director

BLOCKBUSTER
Phone: (214) 854-3000
Fax: (214) 854-4848
FAX 214-854-3599
John Antioco
Chairman, CEO

Nigel Travis
Pres, COO

James Notarnicola
Exec. VP, CMO

HOLLYWOOD VIDEO
Phone: (503) 570-1600
Fax: (503) 570-1680

Mark Wattles
Chairman, Pres, CEO

Scott Schultze
COO, Exec. VP

WALMART
Phone: (479) 273-4000
Fax: (479) 273-4053

S. Robson Walton
Chairman

H. Lee Scott, Jr.
Pres, CEO, Director

Thomas Coughlin
Pres and CEO of Wal-Mart and SAMM'S CLUB, U.S.A., Director

KMART
Phone: (248) 463-1000
Fax: (248) 463-5249

James Adamson,
Chairman, CEO

Juliam Day
Pres, COO

GameSpot Owned by CNET
Phone: (415) 344-2000
Fax: (415) 395-9207

Shelby Bonnie
Chairman, CEO

Barry Briggs
COO

Vince Broady
Senior Vice President

CompUSA
14951 North Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75254
PHONE 972-982-4000
FAX: 972-982-4276
Hal Compton, Chief Executive Officer
Bob Parsons

Yahoo Auctions
14951 North Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75254
Phone: (408) 349-3300
Fax: (408) 349-3301

Terry Semel
Chairman, CEO

Daniel Rosensweig
Pres, COO

Bank of America (Largest Institutional Investor)
fax 704-386-6699
phone 704-386-5000
Kenneth Lews, Chairman, Pres, CEO
James Hance, Jr. Vice-Chairman, CFO
Edward Brown III, Pres. Global Corp. and Investment Banking

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