Star-Studded Cast Say No to Doing Humans as Drugs in Parody PSA for Game ‘High on Life'

Creative Agency Mutiny conceived and executed a new Xbox Game Pass campaign launching today to promote action-adventure game “High on Life” available with Xbox Game Pass. The game, from 'Rick & Morty' creator Justin Roiland and his game studio Squanch Games, is an irreverent first-person shooter where aliens drain humans of their life in order to get high. The cornerstone of the campaign is a celebrity and influencer-driven faux PSA, that aims to raise awareness of the dangers of aliens using humans as drugs, a very real plot line featured in the game, which has set records as the biggest Game Pass release of 2022, and the biggest third party launch in Game Pass history. 

In the game, set in an alien world, captured humans are placed in a device known as the Hyperbong, draining them of life in order to get aliens high. The campaign centers around the idea of building an anti-drug campaign for the aliens. The campaign will launch with a celebrity driven PSA, "Say NO To Humans, Say YES To High On Life" starring several members of the game's all-star cast, including comedian Betsy Sodaro and actor J.B. Smoove. Additionally, gaming content creators Sweeettails and Storymodebae appear in the PSA, joined by celebrity talent like T-Pain and Tommy Chong.

“We designed our #SayNoToHumans campaign to entertain fans in a way that demonstrates High on Life's irreverent humor and truly original premise. Since its day-one arrival with Xbox Game Pass, High on Life became our biggest launch in 2022 and our largest single-player game release ever. We hope fans give this extremely unique universe a visit and that they discover hundreds of other games playable with Xbox Game Pass along the way,” said Devina Hardatt, senior manager, integrated marketing – Xbox Game Pass Lead

“Players immediately sense and ignore samey brand activations that echo back-of-the box bullet points. So, a game like High on Life that defies expectations with humor and the disruptive creativity of Justin Roiland's Squanch Games is a dream collaboration. Extending the game's irreverent themes is a natural complement for Game Pass' goal of reaching players across cultures,” added Geordie Larratt-Smith, president, Mutiny. 

“It's been an amazing opportunity to marry the fourth-wall-breaking, irreverent humor that's propelled Justin Roiland from Channel 101 through Rick and Morty and into gaming fame with the self-aware approach that we bring to all we do with Game Pass. As a fan of this brand of humor, it's been great to see fans react so well,” said Noah Eichen, executive creative director, Mutiny.

In addition to the live action PSA, an original animated short has been created by Squanch in partnership with Game Pass. The short is voiced by the Squanch team and features an alien spokesperson warning of the dangers of using humans as drugs. The short demonstrates the euphoric effects of aliens using the human drug as well as the fatal impact on humans and a warning to the alien community to “Say NO To Humans,” and instead “Say YES to High on Life with Game Pass.”

A Los Angeles-based skywriting activation will be used to generate additional excitement and spread awareness for the campaign message and hashtag #SAYNOTOHUMANS SAY YES TO HIGH ON LIFE. The PSA and short will launch primarily across Xbox TikTok and Instagram with amplification by participating talent.