Clash of Clans embraces its fake history in 10th anniversary campaign
Supercell game's campaign from Wieden+Kennedy includes partnerships with General Mills, Champion and more
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Clash of Clans turns 10 years old today, and to celebrate, it took a trip down a fake memory lane.
The anniversary campaign from Wieden+Kennedy Portland imagines 40 years of faux Clash of Clans history and looks at how the mobile game would celebrate if it had lived through the gaming trends of the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s.
To help create such “historical moments,” Clash of Clans partnered with several other brands to lean into nostalgic products from the last 40 years. General Mills made an actual cereal called “Barb’s Choco Boom Booms” that is available on Walmart.com.
Trading card brand Topps made more than 20 Garbage Pail Kids cards with Clash characters.
Sportswear brand Champion made a capsule collection that included fashions from the ‘80s until today.
Clash of Clans was created by Supercell, a Finnish mobile game developer, and was released for iOS on August 2, 2012. The multiplayer game lets users build their own village and raise an army to expand their territory. In the last few months, the game has stayed within the top 100 free games in the Apple app store, and has over 1 million downloads worldwide, according to Sensor Tower data.
On top of the brand partnerships and videos, W+K imagined what the game would have looked like in past decades in the form of three mini games. The agency created an arcade game called Clash, a console racer by the name of Clash Dash, and an early 2000s open-world game dubbed Clash: Cradle of Darkness. All three can be played in the Clash of Clans app.
The love for mobile gaming grew during the pandemic and the industry has held on to those gains. In the first quarter of 2022, there were 14.3 billion downloads of mobile games worldwide, up 1.4% from the same quarter last year, according to Sensor Tower’s 2022 state of mobile gaming report.
The anniversary rollout started last week with an animated film (above) that showed the game’s main Barbarian character being sucked back in time to a real-world arcade game.
There was also a mockumentary (though it deceptively says “Official Documentary” in its title) about a fake origin story that runs for about 20 minutes.
The story culminated today in a final anniversary film seeing the Barbarian's return (of sorts).
Clash of Clans has been known for its standout creative, with previous campaigns coming from the now-shuttered Barton F. Graf. The agency was behind the game’s buzzy 2015 Super Bowl ad starring Liam Neeson and had conceived elaborate animated ads that created back stories for the game’s characters.
Credits
- Date
- Aug 02, 2022
- Client :
- Clash of Clans
- Client :
- Supercell
- Agency :
- Wieden & Kennedy-Portland
- Executive Creative Director :
- Ana Balarin
- Executive Creative Director :
- Hermeti Balarin
- Executive Creative Director :
- John “JP” Petty, III
- Production Company :
- Psyop
- Managing Director :
- Jess Monsey
- Creative Director :
- Lawrence Melilli
- Creative Director :
- Darcie Burrell
- Copywriter :
- Will Curtis
- Copywriter :
- Nick Stoner
- Copywriter :
- Ryan Snyder
- Art Director :
- Liam McKay
- Art Director :
- Nick Howard
- Art Director :
- Katie Willis
- Brand Management :
- Danny Sullivan
- Brand Management :
- Kimmy Cunningham
- Brand Management :
- Jane Han
- Brand Management :
- Spencer Crain
- Brand Management :
- Demetrius Wallace
- Executive Producer :
- Ricara Stokes
- Producer :
- Kacey Klonsky
- Producer :
- Devin Brown
- Producer :
- Arpi Agdere
- Design Director :
- Mike Weihs
- Design Producer :
- Victoria Tengblad-Kreft
- Design Producer :
- Scott Meisse
- Studio Designer :
- Dave Hagen
- Studio Designer :
- Michael Auer
- Studio Designer :
- Morgan Searcy
- Studio Designer :
- Olivia Budiono
- Studio Designer :
- Chris Streger
- Studio Illustrator :
- Dave Hagen
- Studio Production Specialist :
- Matt Blum
- Studio Production Specialist :
- Liliya Dru
- Studio Production Specialist :
- Vicki Liu
- Studio Production Specialist :
- Beth Schuenemann
- Studio Production Specialist :
- Ken Berg
- Studio Production Specialist :
- David Carney-Fenton
- Copyediting :
- James Yu
- Copyediting :
- Lisa Kadous
- Copyediting :
- Erica Nikolaidis
- Retoucher :
- Frazer Goodbody
- Retoucher :
- Amy Ellars
- Retoucher :
- Greg Radich
- Print + Fabrication Producer :
- Ellen Osborn
- Print + Fabrication Producer :
- Denise Hanggi
- Print + Fabrication Producer :
- Kristin Holder
- Motion Lead :
- Adam Sirkin
- Motion Producer :
- Cameron Blake
- Motion Designer :
- David Mellor
- Motion Designer :
- Chris Huang
- Motion Designer :
- Konstantin Eydelman
- Strategy :
- Indiane Matine
- Strategy :
- Olivia Campbell
- Media :
- Stephanie Ehui
- Media :
- Mary Eliason
- Media :
- Jarod Diaz
- Business Affairs Manager :
- Kevin Moyer
- Business Affairs Manager :
- Chelsea Appleby
- Business Affairs Manager :
- Kristian Evanculla
- Business Affairs Manager :
- Tristan Martin
- Creative Operations Manager :
- Valentina Savarese
- Creative Operations Manager :
- Jaymie Steck
- PR :
- Danny Hernandez
- Production Company :
- Spark & Riot
- Director :
- Nalle Sjöblad
- Executive Producer :
- Ana de Diego
- Line Producer :
- Henkka Hämäläinen
- Production Coordinator :
- Paloma Mendoza-Klein
- Director of Photography :
- Mikael Gustafsson
- 2nd Unit Director :
- Simo Liukka
- 2nd Unit Director, Photography :
- Alexander Stanishev
- Production Company :
- B2Y Production
- Service Producer :
- Alexander Kenanov
- Local Line Producer :
- Ivan Ivanov
- Production Coordinator :
- Ivanina Burneva
- Production Assistant :
- Elena Asenova
- Production Assistant :
- Teodora Marinova
- 1st AD :
- Denys Shvets
- 2nd AD :
- Karina Kostadinova
- Art Director :
- Kristian Lekov
- 2nd Unit Producer :
- Ivan Ivanov
- 2nd Unit AD :
- Bojidar Peychev
- Art Director :
- Kristian Lekov
- Art Department Coordinator :
- Gergana Milovska
- Prop Master :
- Yordan Petrov
- Loader :
- Dimitur Kostov
- 1st AC :
- Vanya Ivanova
- 2nd AC :
- Veselin Hristov
- 1st AC B Unit :
- Genadi Ivanov
- 2nd AC B Unit :
- Kaloyan Mutafchiiski
- BTS Stills :
- Irina Ivanova
- BTS Video :
- Kristiyan Evtimov
- Downloader :
- Bogomil Georgiev
- Stylist :
- Georgy Yakimov
- Make Up Artist :
- Iskra Parladijska
- Hair Stylist :
- Ivayla Stancheva
- Gaffer :
- Petar Todorov
- Key Grip :
- Vihar Nikolov
- SFX :
- FireVision
- Stunt Coordinator :
- Antoni Davidov
- Editorial Company :
- Joint
- Editor :
- Steve Sprinkel
- Editor :
- JB Jacobs
- Additional Editor :
- Eric Hill
- Cutting Assistant :
- Molly Preston
- Assistant Editor :
- CJ Duncan
- Assistant Editor :
- Ian Devore
- Executive Producer :
- Kathleen Russell
- Head of Production :
- Catherine Liu
- Post Producer :
- Zen Freese
- Associate Post Producer :
- Izzie Raitt
- VFX Company :
- Joint
- Executive Producer :
- Nirad 'Bugs' Russell
- Senior Producer :
- Sarah Zerina Usmen
- Production Coordinator :
- Zai Outlaw
- 2D Lead Artist :
- Mikey Smith
- 2D Artist :
- David Jahns
- 2D Artist :
- MB Emigh
- 2D Artist :
- David Stern
- Color :
- Blacksmith
- Head of Production :
- Perry Tate
- Colorist :
- Mikey Pehanich
- Color Producer :
- Ashley Goodwin
- Color Assistant :
- Sam Howells
- Executive Producer :
- Charlotte Arnold
- Audio Mix & Sound Design :
- Joint
- Producer :
- Louise Woodward
- Engineer :
- Natalie Huizenga
- Associate Engineer :
- Candace Mortier
- Animation Company :
- Psyop
- Director :
- Trevor Conrad
- Global Head of Production :
- Christine Schneider
- Head of Production :
- Jamie Pastor
- Executive Producer :
- Amanda Miller
- Senior Producer :
- Jim Brattin
- Associate Producer :
- Ksenia Strelets
- CG Supervisor :
- Chris Sage
- Animation Lead :
- Jean-Dominique Fievet
- 2D/Comp Supervisor :
- Ryan Raith
- Asset Lead :
- Alan Yang
- Head of 3D :
- Christian Bach
- CG Modeling :
- Krista Albert
- CG Modeling :
- Marina Czarnecki
- CG Modeling :
- Daniela Gomez
- CG Modeling :
- Ivan Joy
- CG Modeling :
- Thelian Arzate
- Rig :
- Nelio Naut
- CG Lighting :
- Marina Czarnecki
- CG Lighting :
- Grace Hwang
- CG Lighting :
- Chris Santoianni
- CG Lighting :
- Rafael Braga
- Effects Lead :
- Steve Hallquist
- CG Effects :
- Nicolas Donatelli
- CG Effects :
- Anders Ericsson
- CG Effects :
- Cristina Camacho
- CG Effects :
- Luis Gallegos
- CG Animation :
- Ryan Moran
- Matte Painter :
- Andrew Park
- Technical Animation :
- Nelio Naut
- Technical Animation :
- Josh Sobel
- Technical Animation :
- John Bloch
- Technical Animation :
- Origami Dollar
- Compositing :
- Ryan Raith
- Compositing :
- Danny Song
- Compositing :
- Eva Flodstrom
- Compositing :
- Herculano Fernandes
- Storyboard :
- Paul Cohen
- Storyboard :
- Michael Deweese
- Design :
- Tobias Trebeljahr
- Design :
- Misha Oplev
- Design :
- Stephanie Stromenger
- Design :
- Joshua Harvey
- Design :
- Henry Kim
- Edit :
- Eli Harrigan
- Edit :
- Almog Avidan Antonir
- Flame Artist :
- Kim Stevenson
- Flame Artist :
- Brandon Sanders
- Previz Animation :
- Origami Dollar
- Supervisor :
- Dan Barker
- 2D Animation :
- 2Veinte
- Creative Director :
- Pablo Gostanian
- Design and Animation :
- Gabriel Fermanelli
- Executive Producer :
- Agustin Valcarenghi
- Producer :
- Pilar Megna
- CG Tracking :
- Chaya Pictures
- Supervisor :
- Tatchapon Lertwirojkul
- Music Company :
- Butter
- Composer :
- Max Schad
- Composer :
- Josh Canevari
- Executive Creative Director :
- Tim K
- Executive Producer :
- Annick Mayer
- Senior Producer :
- Stone Irr
- Associate Producer :
- Sonia Ohan
- Audio Mix & Sound Design :
- Field Day Sound
- Sound Designer :
- Morgan Johnson
- Sound Designer :
- Noah Woodburn
- Executive Producer :
- Leslie Carthy
- Illustrator :
- Sam Kennedy
- Distribution :
- Canary Marketing
- Printer :
- Premier Press
- Partner :
- General Mills
- Partner :
- Champion
- Partner :
- Topps x Garbage Pail Kids
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