One of gaming’s coolest traditions, Call of Duty’s live-action commercials, is back again for another year with a new one for Modern Warfare 3.
The two-minute ad reimagines the pre-game lobby as an actual physical space, yet no one is hurling slurs or screaming and there are no crying babies or beeping fire detectors, so we think they missed the mark.
Like ads in the past, it puts the focus on you, the gamer (this time represented by a young man named Carlos), being in the fray. It started years ago with the “there’s a soldier in all of us” ad for Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2010, and it continues here as Carlos makes his way into “the lobby.”
While walking through “the lobby,” Carlos spots familiar faces such as NBA star Devin Booker, and even the live-action actors and models for CoD operators such as Ghost, Gaz, Phillip Graves, Vladimir Makarov, and Valeria Garza.
Classic CoD ads in the past have featured stars like Kobe Bryant, Jonah Hill, Michael Phelps, and Nicki Minaj. This time, the star of the show is 21 Savage, who’s the big reveal at the end. His song, “Call Me Revenge,” also plays as the soundtrack of the commercial.
“As we commemorate this monumental milestone for the Call of Duty franchise, we believe it’s essential to honor our player community through our work,” said Tyler Bahl, head of marketing at Activision. “For the first time, ‘The Lobby’ features CoD players, celebrities, and in-game characters squad-ing up together before a match. The film serves as a poignant reminder of our iconic tagline: ‘There is a soldier in all of us,’ which we are thrilled to reintroduce.”
MW3 releases on Nov. 10 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with early access for the campaign kicking off on Nov. 2.
Published: Oct 19, 2023 09:27 am