‘Call of Duty’ Goes Domestic in UK Spot ‘Faboom’

Another day, another commercial from the Call of Duty: Ghosts marketing blitzkrieg. “Faboom,” a 40-second spot for UK audiences comes from 72andSunny and shows regular folk reenacting their favorite moments from the game at work, out to dinner, even in the doctor’s office during a proctology exam – well played, 72.

The spot comes a week after Eminem premiered his “Survival” music video that also acts as a Call of Duty promo. “Faboom” doesn’t have any white rappers – however, most of the people in the commercial happen to be white – but despite the lack of celebrity punch, the energy and occasional humor gives this ad a universal feel that should work whether televised or shown online. The clip evokes a bit of the Dave Chappelle skit about a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto. Clearly, the sentiment has aged well, and appealing to the human connection to video games, rather than just showing out-of-context graphics for 30 seconds, seems to be the new go-to technique for gaming ads. Call of Duty: Ghosts comes out September 5. Credits after the jump.

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New W+K NY ‘DaDaDa’ Spot Combines New with Familiar for ‘SportsCenter’

ESPN’s latest W+K New York-created spot for SportsCenter is a bit of a departure from their usual advertising style. In the 1:01 spot, ESPN spotlights their trade mark “da da da” (you’ll know it when you hear it) spoken by a wide range of athletes (such as Maria Sharapova, Bubba Watson, RG III, Clayton Kershaw and Patrick Kane) in different situations.

Not centered around a comic premise, “DaDaDa DaDaDa” lets the highlights from many different sports, including ones you don’t care about (lacrosse, anyone?), do the talking for a majority of the spot — perhaps not a bad strategy (except for the lacrosse), considering that is why most people tune in to SportsCenter.

“Da Da Da” is also a departure in that it’s the first ESPN commercial in ten years to be shown on other networks, such as during NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Presumably a response to SportsCenter’s declining audience — and perhaps a reaction to new competitor Fox Sports 1 — the spot attempts to bring in new viewers by running on DirectTV, Adult Swim, Spike and Comedy Central. Whether or not the expensive spot can help SportsCenter fight the declining viewership brought on by the increased ease of finding sports highlights online remains to be seen. But lacrosse players everywhere are cheering. Credits after the jump.

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BBDO NY Takes Another ‘Great Ape Pledge’ with Help from Oscar-Winner

Another year, another round of PETA’s “Great Ape Pledge” PSA campaign which aims to bring awareness of the plight of primates that suffer physical/psychological abuse at the hands of the entertainment industry. BBDO New York, which has taken the “Pledge” before with its nifty auto-correct effort from two years ago, joins forces with PETA once again for the spot above, which also features VO services from Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and VFX/production work from The Mill. If you stick around for the end, you’ll see that no real ape was used in the above PSA, which reemphasizes PETA’s whole purpose for launching “The Great Ape Pledge” in the first place.

Instead, the parties involved hammer home the message that primates shouldn’t be used as actors by creating  a photo-real CG chimp that’s seemingly at its wit’s end. If the stark message touched a nerve or inspired you to pledge (it’s perhaps a bit more effective than auto-correct messaging), you can go here. Credits after the jump.

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‘The Replacer’ Returns, with JB Smoove in Tow, in New ‘Black Ops II’ Clip

Nearly three months after 72andSunny introduced us to “The Replacer”–aka Fargo baddie Peter Stormare–in its campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Revolution trailer, the agency has brought back the character, now with sidekick JB Smoove in tow, for its Black Ops II – Uprising promo. Jesus, how many entries are in this franchise? Anyhow, the newly formed dynamic duo embarks on several replacing adventures from serving as weatherman to fixing cable, with Stormare being his usual, somewhat menacing self and Smoove giving us the fast-talking delivery that we first came to know and love in Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

We’re not sure what the budget is here, but as the Black Ops franchise expands, so do seem the timeframe and scope of the clips promoting it. But, if you have the patience for it (it is lunchtime on the East Coast, after all), don’t let us stop you from taking in this slightly entertaining, slightly grating clip. Credits after the jump.

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