World of Tanks' Comedic Ad Tells Mature Gamers to ‘Stop Getting Owned by Kids’

The campaign is based on the audience truth; as you get older, your reactions slow and you get worse at games focussed on dexterity. Unfortunately, kids with faster reactions tend to have the upper hand.

In this film we follow a 30-something waking up in different video game environments and being continuously defeated by kids with lightning fast reflexes; the video game worlds typify common frustrations with the online gaming experience. It’s a nightmare our hero can’t escape, that is until he discovers World of Tanks, a strategic multiplayer battle game where fast thinking beats fast fingers.

The campaign aims to demonstrate the strategic depth of World of Tanks, and invite a new cohort of PC gamers to discover it for themselves. It will be going live across Digital media in Australia on July 19, before launching on TV, VOD, Cinema, and Digital media in the UK and North America in September. MullenLowe Group UK is the lead agency for creative and media.

Felix Morgan, global head of strategy at World of Tanks, said: “In a sector focused on creating brain-off dopamine loops and designing games for younger and younger audiences, World of Tanks sits in a fairly unique position. The multiplayer PC game is designed to be the perfect experience for strategic thinkers to get ahead of the competition using their brains, not just their dexterity or twitch reactions. That insight led MullenLowe Group UK to this daring creative platform, supported by a hard working performance strategy, that we will be implementing across the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.”

Mark Elwood, executive creative director at MullenLowe said: “The campaign has a bold strategy and creatively harnesses a powerful yet previously untapped insight into the gaming industry; as you get older your reaction times slow, and you start losing to kids who are more nimble.”

“Gaming is the biggest untapped creative opportunity in marketing, and few agencies have had the opportunity to create big bold brand campaigns with the new free-to-play behemoths, like Wargaming.”