If you like absurd cartoon supervillains, here's a campaign for you.
Mobile game maker Supercell and New York agency Barton F. Graf 9000 are hyping strategy game Boom Beach with a series of ads featuring Dr. T, a smack-talking mad scientist who could be a character straight out of a Pixar movie. And in a nice twist, all the offline ads point to a development that's happening this Friday in the game itself.
In Boom Beach, players battle against each other and computer-controlled opponents to collect resources. Gaming website IGN describes it as a modern version of smash fantasy title Clash of Clans, which is also published by Helsinki-based Supercell and advertised by New York-based Barton F. Graf.
Dr. T is already a fixture in the game, but throughout the campaign he's been teasing an upcoming super weapon he plans to use on players. Come Friday, they will be forced to reckon with the new threat—suspected to be a giant crab, thanks to the detective work of one impatient fan.
Check out the intro ad here:
In another commercial, we get a look at Dr. T's existing arsenal, which includes a turtle wielding a crowbar.
In another, it becomes even clearer that Dr. T isn't the brightest of villains when he throws sand at the camera lens, an ineffectual twist on the old grit-in-the-eyes sneak attack.
A bevvy of other ads—including Dr. T's song—appear on the Boom Beach YouTube account.
The campaign launched on Christmas Day and included air time on ESPN during the NBA's Wizards-Cavaliers game. In one print execution, Dr. T does admit a weakness … for blackberry licorice. But the most absurd, and therefore arguably best, piece—featured at the top of this post—is of Dr. T lying on his side in a classic Playboy pose, with just the word "Hi." 
Whatever the outcome of the attack, hopefully Christoph Waltz will narrate the battle in a post-mortem ad, as he did for its sister game Clash of Clans. After all, not many people can actually make retellings of gameplay entertaining.
CREDITS
Client: Supercell
Brand: Boom Beach
Agency: Barton F. Graf
Chief Creative Officer: Gerry Graf
CEO: Barney Robinson
Chief Strategy Officer: Laura Janness
Executive Creative Director: Ian Reichenthal
Creative Directors: Matty Smith and Joey Ianno
Copywriter / Art Director: Owen Weeks, Chris Sheldon, Chase Kimball
Head of Integrated Production: Josh Morse
Producer: Cameron Farrell
Account Director: Kate Faux
Account Supervisor: Kimmy Cunningham
Strategy Director: Sean Staley
Brand Strategist: Kirk Luo
Print Producer: Wayne Treptow
Project Manager & Print Producer: Daniela Contreras
Lead Designer: Matt Egan
Junior Designer: April McMullan
Head of Business Affairs: Jennifer Pennant
Animation Production: HouseSpecial
CD / Director: Kirk Kelley
President / EP: Lourri Hammack
Producer: Karly Richter
Art Director: Alan Cook
Editor: Cam Williams
Flame Artist: Rex Carter
Technical Director: Patrick Van Pelt
Animation Lead: Greg Kyle
VFX Lead: Karl Richter
Lighting Lead: Matt Reslier
Compositing Lead: John Corbett
Audio: Heard City
Audio Engineer: Evan Mangiamele
Sound Design: Trinitite
Sound Designer: Brian Emrich
Music: Butter Music + Sound
Composer: Andrew Sherman
Producer: Ryan Faucett
EP: Ian Jeffreys
Print Production: Box Graphics
Box Co-Founder and Head of Production: Suk Choi