Street Fighter Is Promoting The Cops And It Doesn't Make Sense

Japan's Osaka Prefectural Police will use Capcom's Street Fighter franchise to recruit for investigators focused on cyber-crime. According to Capcom, it "aims to contribute to curbing the sharp rise of cyber-crime by utilizing [Street Fighter's] popularity and image of strength."

Capcom, which has its headquarters in Osaka, has previously worked with various police departments in the city to raise awareness about crime, but this represents the most significant partnership between the game maker and the law enforcement, and it comes at a time when cyber-crime is on the rise.

Characters from Street Fighter will be featured on 3,000 flyers and 1,000 posters that will be placed at Osaka Prefectural Police stations and police boxes, as well as at train stations, beginning July 2. "The characters will be featured in investigator recruiting advertisements with the aim of boosting awareness of and the number of investigators specializing in cyber-crime--a field that has seen a conspicuous rise in the number of incidents in recent years," Capcom explained.

"Capcom hopes its characters will contribute to crime prevention activities in Osaka and throughout Japan by broadening the reach of police investigator recruitment. Capcom is committed to serving as a responsible corporate citizen and will continue to conduct proactive CSR activities that include the use of its games to invigorate communities and contribute to society."

On paper, this is excellent. Street Fighter is an incredibly popular and recognizable franchise that also has a certain inspirational quality to it. All for it. Good stuff. Down with Shadaloo.

However, it's also a franchise based on characters physically punching, kicking, and spinning piledriving their opponents into the ground. Cyber-crime, meanwhile, is ... cyber. You can't tatsumaki senpukyaku a hacker or flash kick a phishing scam--it's all digital. It would have made more sense to use Mega-Man--or Rockman in Japan--who has a history of traveling into networks like the internet to combat evil. Additionally, he's as iconic a character as much of the Street Fighter cast.

I dunno, whatever. It's fine. Street Fighter is great. The poster looks cool.