Game of War: Fire Age, one of the top-grossing mobile games in the world, has tapped supermodel Kate Upton for its first global marketing campaign that uses traditional media. The first of three spots featuring Upton, by creative shop Untitled Worldwide, will premiere on television this evening with a push during the NFL Network's Thursday night football game.
"It is fantastic to be instrumental in the start of a new era in gaming and communications," said Upton in an email. "I love playing the part of Athena—she's such a bad-ass character, commanding armies, slaying hydra, charging into battle—the work shows how much fun it is, and I am proud to be part of it."
Parent company Machine Zone spent approximately $40 million in media, according to sources. The campaign will also include digital and social media.
"In the production of the spots we really wanted to dial up the contrast between a dirty, gritty, medieval world and the sweet, inviting Athena," said Eric Cosper, Untitled ecd, in an email. "She looks out of place but is very much a part of everything that is going on."
While the campaign is geared to show off the world of the game—and the fantastic visual effects do so quite well—it is another example of Upton's willingness to make her supermodel looks the dominant aspect of her public persona. For example, Upton's first line, "Come and play with me,” appears to be a double entendre meant to highlight her sexual appeal. Even if someone couldn't hear her delivery, it's clear that the audience is meant to maintain a degree of focus on Upton's voluptuous figure.
And she has proven she's got comedic chops in the woefully bad comedy The Other Woman. But in a marketplace given to "buzz-worthy" developments such as Kim Kardashian and #BreakTheInternet, it may be considered unsurprising that Upton wasn't asked to demonstrate such abilities with a quip or two here.
At any rate, a couple more spots featuring Upton will roll out later this month.
CREDITS
Client: Machine Zone
Campaign: “Game of War"
Agency: Untitled Worldwide
Executive Creative Director: Eric Cosper
Creative Director, Writer: David Lewis Kennedy
Creative Director, Art Director: Kevin Kaminishi
Copywriter: Duc Nguyen
Art Director: Tony Costello
Head of Production: Nik Traxler
Associate Producer: Alyssa Guzman
Head of Account Service: Marianne Pizzi-Jansen
Planning Director: Veda Partalo
Founding Partner: M.T. Carney
Production Company, Los Angeles: Anonymous Content
Production Company, Slovenia: Division Productions
Director: Gary Shore
Executive Producer: Jeff Baron
Director of Photography: John Schwartzman
Line Producer: Nadine Brown
Editing: Cosmo Street Editorial; Trim Editorial
Post Producer: Anne Lai
Editor: Paul Hardcastle
Assistant Editor: Elise Butt
Visual Effects: Method Studios
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor: Benjamin Walsh
Visual Effects Producer: Lisa Goldberg
Computer Graphics Supervisor: Brian Burke
Compositing Supervisors: Ian Holland, Brandon Nelson
Animation Supervisor: Keith Roberts
Executive Producer: Stephanie Gilgar
Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld
Music Company: EchoLab
Music Producer: Gavin Little
Composer: Steve Lynch
Sound Designers: Gavin Little, Joe McHugh
Mix: Heard City
Final Mix: Evan Mangiamele
Logo Animation: Devastudios