GAME criticised for Valentine's Day ad "mocking domestic violence"

UK retailer GAME has been heavily criticised for a Twitter post seen to make light of domestic violence.

The post, tagged "#ValentinesDay", was apparently designed to highlight GAME's range of mobile phones.

Following numerous complaints, it has now been pulled from the official @GAMEdigital Twitter feed. Eurogamer has contacted GAME for comment.

"Love your phone as much as you love your console? Show it you care and upgrade here. #ValentinesDay," the post read.

The image which accompanied this text showed several older phones with their screens smashed, next to a newer model.

"Shhhhh baby," accompanying text reads. "I ain't gonna treat you like the others."

Many who saw the post before it was pulled expressed shock at the fact GAME had considered the image acceptable.

"So you made and posted an ad mocking domestic violence on Valentine's Day after the Super Bowl which has a high spike of visits to the emergency room for partners?" one reply reads. "Absolutely stunning tone-deafness."

"Wow. Just wow. Making light of domestic abuse to sell preowned phones..." another wrote. "GAME really need a new social media team if they think this is acceptable."

"I get that everyone wants to hop on the edgy meme-marketing bandwagon, but this misses the mark by an absolute mile," said a third.

Many commenters called on GAME to issue a statement and apologise.