12 Gunns Formats -- Clash of Clans Super Bowl TV Commercial

Type

The above advertisement is a Super Bowl TV commercial for Clash of Clans, a mobile MMO strategy game. The ad features Liam Neeson, an Irish actor who is well-known for his role in the action movie Taken. It also acts as a parody of one of his scenes in that same movie.

Ad's appeal

The main appeal of the ad is the ongoing celebrity featured in it. Liam Neeson is best known for playing roles in action movies, so it is only suitable that he should be a prominent figure in promoting action-packed games such as Clash of Clans. Fans of Neeson, or even those who recognise him from his various roles are drawn to watch the ad simply because he is the major character in it. The format of the ad being a parody adds to the effectiveness of the ad in grabbing and retaining the audience's attention as most are familiar with Neeson's iconic Taken phone speech.

What I like about the ad/Benefit of the ad

The ad has good cinematographic quality and effective humour, two elements that are common in Super Bowl commercials. The ad starts off with gameplay in the Clash of Clans app, which is later revealed to have been played by Liam Neeson himself. Apart from the obvious parody, the ad showcases the game as one that is so addictive and entertaining that even famous actors like Neeson take it seriously. This creates associated user imagery -- avid players of the game can relate to Neeson (or rather, AngryNeeson52) and it calls to aspirational non-players to experience the game for themselves in order to be more like him.

Others

According to the 12 Master Formats of Advertising, this ad is collectively three of the twelve types together in one -- it features an ongoing celebrity that helps people associate the character with the brand; parodies a well-known scene from a movie of the same genre and utilises associated user imagery by equating players of the game to action movie actors. This creates an entertaining and effective ad that will be sure to attract Super Bowl fans or viewers to play the game or at least give it a try.