What it had to solve
Launch Infinite Warfare — the first Call of Duty set beyond Earth — in an autumn when the real world felt unliveable and the US election saturated every screen.
How it works
Directed by Peter Berg through Pony Show Entertainment, the live-action trailer 'Screw It, Let's Go To Space' stars Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps — a real Call of Duty fan who logged over 500 games while training for Rio — whose kill gets stolen by Danny McBride, with newscasters, businessmen and delivery drivers joining the exodus to space. VFX came from Pixomondo and MPC London ahead of the game's worldwide launch on 4 November 2016.
What it did
No measured results are given; the trailer anchored an integrated campaign ahead of the 4 November 2016 worldwide release.
Background
Ahead of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare's release on 4 November 2016, Activision and 72andSunny released an integrated campaign built around a live-action trailer starring Michael Phelps and Danny McBride. With the US Presidential Election in full swing, the UK leaving the European Union and headlines around the globe frustrating everyone, the trailer — titled 'Screw It, Let's Go To Space' — taps into that shared cultural angst and positions space as a much-needed escape from 2016.
In the film, everyone from businessmen to newscasters to delivery drivers heads up there to get their frustrations out; Olympic swimmer and 23-time gold medallist Michael Phelps gets his kill stolen by 'Vice Principals' and 'Eastbound & Down' star Danny McBride. Phelps, a Call of Duty fan in real life, had recently logged over 500 games in a two-week span while training for his record-setting Rio Olympics performance.
Infinite Warfare immersed players, for the first time in franchise history, in a war story extending beyond Earth into the solar system. The campaign was directed by Peter Berg with VFX by Pixomondo and MPC London; LBB reported it on 27 October 2016, a week before launch.
Why it lands
The trailer rides a real, shared emotion — 2016 exhaustion — instead of explaining game mechanics.
Casting a genuine Call of Duty player in Phelps made the celebrity fit feel true rather than rented.
The title itself is the strategy: a swear at the year, then a door to the product promise.
First-in-franchise space setting gave the escape metaphor a literal product truth to stand on.
What you can take
When the news cycle is miserable, a game about leaving the planet sells itself — if your trailer names the misery first and the product second.
Since then
LBB reported the campaign on 27 October 2016 with full credits. The report gives no view counts, pre-order or sales figures.
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