It might be a stretch to call blatantly un-PC videos Marketing as Service but considering the target, I’m prepared to do just that. The videos, which can be completely customized at Enlist4hell.com, are meant to provide entertainment for grown-up gamers, particularly the ones that feast upon WW11 action video games. The service, if you will, is the ability to “ream out your buddy” in an anything but subtle manner.
It’s all in good fun unless you don’t think this kind of thing is fun in which case you’re definitely not in the target. If you are game and over 18, have some fun and make your own or at least watch the relatively tame video I created that stars Pinky (the French bulldog) by clicking here.
The marketer behind this service is Ubisoft, whose Brother in Arms: Hell’s Highway video game is one of the most anticipated games in its genre this year. Here’s what they say about it on Wikipedia:
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway is the third entry in the Brothers in Arms series of video games which follow a squad of men, of the 101st Airborne Division (502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment) led by the player-character Matt Baker. This game once again puts players in the role of Staff-Sergeant Matt Baker during Operation Market Garden in the later stages of WWII.
The game will be released on Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 on September 23, 2008.
Becky Ebenkamp has a nice write-up on the whole guerrilla/viral program on BRANDWEEK’s EX Files blog.