An elaborate PR stunt has fallen flat on its face after the mobile operator behind a hoax meteorite crater in Latvia admitted it had dug the hole and staged the fireball strike, leaving the Latvian government no choice but to cancel contracts with the company.
Swedish telecomms provider Tele2 admitted responsibility after scientists concluded that the hole was too tidy to have been from a meteorite impact and exposed the crater as a hoax.
The event made international headlines, but the Latvian government was clearly not amused and promptly announced that it would cancel a number of contracts with the operator.
The beleaguered Latvian administration had been under fire in recent months over its handling of the economy, which had been hit especially hard by the worldwide recession.
So the government had no choice but to take decisive action to avoid a PR embarrassment of its own, having spent a good measure of taxpayers' money by sending out teams of firefighters, geologists and military specialists to investigate the scene.
The company said it had staged the stunt to give the country a brief respite from its economic woes by drawing attention to something more interesting.
Tele2 has inevitably come under fire for its ill-conceived and ridiculous PR caper. However, the jury is still out as to whether all publicity will end up proving good publicity for the company in the long run.
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