OK. Imagine you're Kyrie Irving, and you've got to indulge your obsession with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 by playing the new DLC pack, Awakening, that dropped on Tuesday. Who can you call to step into your shoes and take it strong to the hoop while you're far away, immersed in Activision awesomeness, blasting zombies until your face melts?
True fans know the answer.
You call the "The Replacer," aka tough-guy actor Peter Stormare, the iconic commercial character who stands in for folks so they can play Black Ops 3 to their heart's content. This week, AKQA and 72andSunny launched a fun extension of the latest "Replacer" campaign, with Stormare covering for celebrity influencers in their Instagram feeds.
Check out his dope dribbling for Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving below:
Mad skills.. That really could be Kyrie Irving! Except for the fact that Stormare is a 62-year-old bearded white guy rocking a suit, of course.
Next, His Gruffness—who already strutted down a high-fashion runway for a scene in the last "Replacer" ad—strikes a baby-bump pose, giving model Chrissy Teigen (who really is pregnant) time off for gameplay:
Check out more pics on Coco and Jen Selter's pages.
"There isn't really a formula on who The Replacer replaces," Tim Wolfe, creative director at 72andSunny, tells us. "It starts with a list of celebs who are fans and players of Call of Duty that the teams start concepting against. It's Call of Duty, so it's a long list. The funniest ideas rise to the top, and we go from there. As we start zeroing in on the possibilities, we all come together to cast a wide net so it feels like The Replacer might just show up anywhere."
Wolfe adds: "If we could, we'd have him show up in as many places as possible. Each one breathes more life into one of Call of Duty's most unpredictable and most loved characters. And honestly, they're really fun to come up with."
Wolfe there are currently no plans to take over other social platforms, "but you never know where he might show up in the future."
Tim Ellis, CMO of Activision, says influencers are the fastest growing part of Activision's marketing program. "With this campaign, we take an ironic twist as we literally replace our influencers to give them time to play the new Black Ops 3 content," he says.