How far are you willing to go in order to gain a profit? This question posed no problem for Apple Android stores who insensitively created an app based upon the Malaysia flight MH370, just shortly after it went missing. They then persisted to ignore this issue, quietly releasing their app as if they wanted consumers to believe that the striking similarities were mere coincidences.
This app was released on April 2nd of this year, just twenty-five days after the Malaysian plane first went missing on March 8th. This flight contained 227 passengers along with 12 crew members, all of whom went missing with the plane that has now, as of July 11th at 7:11pm been missing for exactly 126 days.
App displayed in the Apple Android Store awaiting downloads
Families and nations everywhere are searching for answers as they mourn the loss of the 239 different passengers and crew members. Instead of respecting the sensitivity of this situation, Apple Android seized the opportunity to gain a profit, rather than compassion.
At first Apple had released this app to; "attempt to lure dollars from people who are searching for news of this missing flight" stated disgusted author of; Smartphone app seeks to profit in the face of tragedy, Andrew Beato. As time went by, a few users began to realize the controversy behind this app that was created for pure entertainment, resulting in no direct relationship to any effort to help this tragedy.
Instead of owning up to their actions, Apple brushed this under the rug, turning a blind eye as if their app was barley affiliated with the missing flight. Even so, Apple added "pray for flight MH370" at the bottom of the app description on the android app store. If you search through this app's description you will find; "Flight MH370 couldn't be found with bomoh rituals dressed in long suits, water, coconut, enchanted walking sticks, carpet and a flight tracker. Rescue the flight for the still waiting relatives and passengers and crew!"
If it weren't for the extreme similarities between the Id of the cartoon plane, and the real Id of missing flight MH370, or perhaps even the app name; "Save flight MH370" then maybe it would be harder to come to a clear conclusion about the intentions behind this app.
Almost an even sadder portrayal of the technology driven community we live in is the fact that many of the users were so emerged in the game, that they were too blind to draw the obvious connection. Out of the 10 displayed reviews on app zoom, only one addressed the issues behind this game. This comment was hidden at the bottom of the page, covered by comments such as; "good game," "can't be beaten" and "too addictive."
Since the release of this free, Saving Flight MH370, android app, it has received around 1,000 to 5,000 downloads and was last updated July 2, 2014. Similarly to the news of the missing plane, this app appears to be slowly fading away, leaving Android to find its next tragedy to recreate into a "fun" game for many gullible hungry consumers to snatch up.
Resources:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hg.flight.mh370.flying.game&hl=en
Hannah, great job! I did not know that this was even an app. You did a good job showing the connections between this app and the actual flight. The information that you gave was really interesting. I wonder what Apple was thinking when they made this game.
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