Hobo Hunt Is Appalling - Wanna take a pic of a hobo and 'hunt' them? There's an app for that.

Hobo Hunt Is Appalling

Eugh. People are the fucking worst. Last week, I was sent a press release for an iPhone/ Android app called HoboHunt. It was described by the PR as a "controversial photo sharing app" that has "been rejected three times by Apple for being too outrageously offensive."

As it was written in that annoying "online marketing" language that everyone feels they have to use nowadays, I still didn't really know what the app was. So I got in touch with Synventus, the company that made it, to find out if it's as bad as the title would lead you to believe.

I spoke to Joel Usher, the "CEO," who broke it down for me:

"The 'Hobo' part [of the title] came about as a friend of mine, who commutes through Washington, DC, was constantly sending me camera phone pictures of hobos along his route, and making jokes about "hunting" them as he drove. He also told me that a group of attorneys (at a prestigious firm I won't name) all do the same, and that really triggered the idea behind the app.

"There are in-app purchases available, basically bundles of various weapon overlays. They vary from swords and knives to guns and such. These are really what drive the core concept of the game, as they appear on the screen and it looks as though these weapons are aimed at whatever you are taking a picture of. Thus the 'hunt' aspect."

http://www.vice.com/read/hobo-hunt-is-appaling