Creative agency barrettSF launched “Welcome to Suplex City,” a multimedia marketing campaign to support WWE 2K17, the next release in 2K’s flagship WWE video game franchise. WWE 2K17 is scheduled for worldwide release on the PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 systems, as well as Xbox One and Xbox 360, on Oct. 11.
“Welcome to Suplex City” is WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar’s catchphrase, as well as the title of a TV spot, UGC promotion, multi-component digital campaign, in-store effort and print ad that will introduce WWE 2K17 to consumers around the world. It’s also “a living, breathing and extremely dangerous place,” per 2K. Suplex City comes to life in ancillary storytelling content, such as interactive maps that reveal residents of the city’s neighborhoods, as well as game information.
The live-action TV spot opens on the outskirts of a post-apocalyptic city in ruins. As the action moves inside the city limits, several WWE Superstars, including Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Big Show and Sheamus, are seen taking care of the competition by such means as dumpster dumping and jukebox slamming as the viewer narrowly escapes and encounters subsequent crimes.
Eventually, we reach a dark, ominous and Thunderdome-type cage crawling with cheering fans, and … out walks Brock Lesnar. As the camera zooms out, the scene reveals a dozen screens showing WWE 2K17 gameplay footage on stacks of old TVs in a window display of a Suplex City appliance store. The spot tags with: “Welcome to Suplex City.”
In a shocking juxtaposition, the entire spot is backed by Petula Clark’s 1965 hit, “Downtown.”
“It’s part post-apocalyptic wasteland, part Burning Man festival and part Banksy’s Dismaland,” is how barrettSF’s ECD Pete Harvey colorfully described the spot. “Suplex City is referenced everywhere in WWE, so it was time to make the fictional place come alive.” This is barrettSF’s third year of collaborating on creative for the WWE 2K franchise.
Creative Credits:
Creative Agency: barrettSF, San Francisco, CA USA
Agency website: http://barrettsf.com
Executive Creative Director: Pete Harvey
Executive Creative Director: Jamie Barrett
Creative Director: Todd Eisner
Associate Creative Director: Brad Kayal
Senior Copywriter: Jake Reilly
Senior Art Director: Jen Hart
Managing Director: Patrick Kelly
Account Director: Emily Nolan
Account Supervisor: Michael Reardon
Account Manager: Emily Brody
Head of Production: Conor Duignan
Producer: Rob Lee
Associate Producer: Charlotte Dugoni
Business Affairs Manager: Tricia Krasneski
Client: 2K Sports
VP of Marketing: Chris Snyder
Director of Brand Marketing: Bryce Yang
Product Manager: Ediz Basol
Marketing Coordinators: Bob Hearon, Mitchell Jagodinski
Community Manager: Bryan Vore
Senior Communications Manager: Jaime Jensen
MJZ — Production Company
Director: Rocky Morton
DP: Kristian Kachikis
Production Designer: Francis Whitebloom
Line Producer: Helen Hollien
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
President: David Zander
Casting Agency: Gabrielle Schary Casting
Editorial Company: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Corky DeVault and Brian Gannon
Assistant Editor: Brad Dupuie
Producer: Jonlyn Williams
Executive Producer: Joni Williamson
Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Bryan Smaller
Mix: M Squared
Engineers: Mark Pitchford and Phil Lantz
Final Online: Carbon VFX
Producer: Devon Irete
Visual Effects: Pixomondo
VFX Supervisor: Boris Schmidt
On-Set Supervisor: Randall Smith
VFX Executive Producer: Mandie Briney
VFX Producer: John Baer
Production Manager: Kristin Patterson
VFX Coordinator: Octevia Robertson
Flame Artist: Dave Levine
Compositors: Spencer Hecox, Lance Ranzer, Patrick Reily, Niki Yoblonski
Matte Painters: Richard Lee, Chris Howe, Deanna Davies, Jeremy Melton
Matchmove Supervisor: Danny Garcia
Matchmove Artist: Daniel Erickson
M Squared — Sound Design
Sound Designers: Mark Pitchford and Phil Lantz
Producer: Sarah Benedict