EA, the publisher behind Mass Effect, have launched a petition on the UK Government in order to get them to release all the files they have on extra-terrestrial life. The petition currently has a little over 1100 signatures, more than 10% of what the petition says is needed to "change the way we think about aliens forever." The petition runs until August.
It's impossible to look at something like this without being more than a little cynical. EA are well known for unusual marketing techniques and, to be perfectly fair, there's nothing to indicate that this even has anything directly to do with EA (other than all those Mass Effect logos). Even so, it's been enough to capture the attention of blogs and sites across the internet.
It could be argued that using a country's government (my country, no less) to advertise a video game is somewhat irresponsible and I can't wait to see what the Daily Mail says about it if the petition gets enough signatures to warrant discussion in the house.