We’ve thoroughly discussed the mobile gaming market and how landing a celebrity spokesman can turn an OK game into a wild success. Supercell’s Clash of Clans, one of the most popular freemium mobile games around, has landed two new celebrities for their latest campaign, as Christoph Waltz and James Corden appear in the latest ad spot.
The ad titled “The Legend of the Last Lava Pup” begins with Waltz telling a bedtime story to Corden. He tells the story of the titular character as it relates to gameplay. The narration is full of misdirection, with Waltz and Corden’s back-and-forth being pretty entertaining. As the story wraps up actual gameplay (something you don’t see too much in ads) is shown. As AdWeek notes, the ad shows live-action, cinematic animation and real gameplay - which hits all the checkmarks on how to properly advertise a game. Throw in Waltz and Corden, it makes for a very watchable ad.
The ad is a success but doesn’t parallel Clash of Clans‘ Superbowl spot this year which had Liam Neeson performing a Taken-esque monologue, saying he was going to destroy the village of a fellow gamer. That spot was the most viewed YouTube advertisement of 2015, with 92 million views and counting. The new spot is already at 13 million views in less than a week, but it would be shocking to see it hit the almost 100 million of its predecessor.
Either way, Clash of Clans knows how to make an entertaining ad which will probably get people to download their app. Isn’t that the ultimate goal?
