Supercell’s latest mobile game ‘Squad Busters’ is witnessing a download spree thanks to an epic five-minute ad featuring the God of Thunder himself Chris Hemsworth, Will Arnett, Christina Ricci, Ken Jeong and Aulii Cravalho as game characters. It stars characters from across the Supercell universe, appealing to casual and hard-core gamers.
Rob Lowe, marketing head for Squad Busters, said each of Supercell’s previous five games have been billion-dollar hits. “The company wanted to have a collection of stars in its launch spot to resonate with young and old players to grab attention across a variety of audiences.” Lowe explained that Hemsworth’s Viking, for example, will appeal to anyone who loved him as fat Thor in Avengers: Endgame or as warlord Dementus in the newly released Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
“We’d seen from our play tests and user research that Squad Busters has a strong cross-generational appeal, so we knew our core creative needed to speak to a broad audience. With that in mind, we took that audience-spanning view when thinking how the core creative might be structured. This led us to the idea of blending Hollywood names with some of the biggest stars on TikTok and Instagram.”
Supercell roped in Uncommon Creative Studio for the ad campaign. Nils Leonard, co-founder and CEO of Uncommon, says their goal was to make something that was more than just another ad, but something of true cultural merit. “The casting strategy was an exercise in ambition. How can we mirror and elevate these iconic characters in a way that will reach new audiences but more than that, speak to the launch of this game as a moment.” The celebrity squad then embark on their mission to bring fun to their player’s life; following him from morning to night. In a series of comical scenes, directed by Jody Hill, the cast accompany our gamer to a job interview, into a toilet cubicle, and cram inside a car to give a Carpool Karaoke-style rendition of Nickelback classic ‘How You Remind Me’.
Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell, said they wanted to create a show-stopping moment to make the launch. “So it felt fitting to have Hollywood icons face off against social media stars.”
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