Internet Brand Xtrim Challenges the Haters and Wins

Gamers are quick to rage. And their first target? Their internet provider. Every death, every lost match, every misclick—it all gets blamed on the same thing: lag. But what if the lag wasn’t the problem? What if the player… just sucked?

That’s exactly what Ecuador’s leading internet provider set out to discover with 'Lag or Bad', a campaign that dared gamers to prove their accusations were valid. Instead of launching a traditional campaign, the brand issued a challenge: upload your gameplay and let a panel of professional gamers judge it. Was it really lag that got you killed? Or are you just bad?

Thousands accepted the challenge. Over 3,000 players submitted clips of their defeats, hoping to be vindicated. If lag was to blame, the brand offered a free upgrade—or, in the case of users from other ISPs, a chance to switch to the brand’s specialized Gamer Plan. But if the pros ruled it was just bad play, the punishment was public: the player would be immortalized on social media as a noob, NPC, bot, or worse.

More than just a clever campaign, Lag or Bad turned excuses into entertainment, tapping into gamer culture with a bold, confrontational tone that resonated across the community. “Most brands try to defend themselves from complaints,” said Vicho Concha, the creative director behind the idea. “We invited them. We asked gamers to bring us proof. If we were wrong, they’d get rewarded. If not, they’d get roasted.”

And that’s what made Lag or Bad different—it didn’t try to talk at gamers. It spoke their language, challenged them on their turf, and made the lag conversation a game in itself.

In the end, the campaign didn’t just reduce negative sentiment—it redefined how a utility brand can engage with one of the internet’s toughest audiences. And it proved one thing: sometimes, the best way to deal with a hater… is to queue up and 1v1.