Clash of Clans - Clash from the Past
Clash of Clans approached Wieden+Kennedy Portland, wanting to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. The client needed to elevate the mobile game's status to that of legendary franchises like Mario, reigniting fan passion and ensuring long-term engagement. The challenge was to create lore and deepen connection, making Clash of Clans feel culturally significant beyond typical mobile game recognition.
Creative Idea
Clash of Clans created a fake 40-year history and retro games, making fans question their memories to elevate its legendary gaming status.
For its 10th anniversary, Clash of Clans created an elaborate fictional 40-year history of the game, producing a 20-minute documentary and three retro video games that made fans believe the mobile game had existed since 1982. The campaign aimed to elevate Clash of Clans to the status of legendary gaming franchises by crafting an alternate universe so authentic that it sparked curiosity and made players question their own memories.
The Forty Year History That Never Happened
170 Million Retro Gamers
The campaign achieved massive scale without traditional media spend, reaching Clash of Clans' 300 million daily players. The three mini - games created for the initiative saw 170 million users worldwide, while the 20 - minute mockumentary became the #1 Trending video on YouTube with over 65 million total views. This engagement translated into physical demand; the "Barb’s Choco Boom Booms" cereal sold out completely, and limited - edition Garbage Pail Kids cards later surfaced on eBay for up to $2,000.
Era Specific Camera Rigging
To maintain the "Mandela Effect" illusion, Director Nalle Sjöblad shot the documentary using five different era - specific cameras to match the visual textures of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. The production team, led by Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Spark & Riot, created over 900 net new assets, including fake 80s arcade cabinets and early 2000s fashion. Digital production house ROSE built three fully playable titles - Clash (1982), Clash Dash (1990s), and Clash: Cradle of Darkness (2000s) - to ensure the "history" was interactive rather than just aesthetic.
Reddit AMAs and Glitch Lore
The campaign utilized top creators like PewDiePie and Chief Pat to "leak" footage, lending authenticity to the fake timeline. A staged Reddit AMA with fictional founder Semo became the most upvoted thread in the history of the Clash of Clans subreddit. To deepen the lore, the mini - games included intentional "bugs" and "glitches" that were cross - referenced in the documentary script as results of the founders' falling out, blurring the line between marketing and narrative storytelling.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Supercell had the creative audacity and budget to build a high-fidelity alternate reality, including three fully functional retro games. This allowed them to move beyond a simple mobile app into a multi-platform narrative experience.
Category
Mobile games are typically viewed as modern, disposable software rather than enduring cultural institutions. While console brands celebrate decades of history, mobile marketing usually focuses on user acquisition and short-term engagement.
Customer
Players want to feel that their time investment in a game is part of something legendary and permanent. They resonate with deep lore and community-led discoveries that challenge their perceptions and reward their long-term fandom.
Culture
Leveraging the Mandela Effect and the internet obsession with lost media allowed the campaign to go viral through skepticism. The aesthetic tapped into a universal nostalgia for the pixelated era of the 80s and 90s.
Company
Supercell had the creative audacity and budget to build a high-fidelity alternate reality, including three fully functional retro games. This allowed them to move beyond a simple mobile app into a multi-platform narrative experience.
Category
Mobile games are typically viewed as modern, disposable software rather than enduring cultural institutions. While console brands celebrate decades of history, mobile marketing usually focuses on user acquisition and short-term engagement.
Strategy:
Invent a fictional 40-year heritage to transform a mobile game into a culturally permanent legacy gaming franchise.
Customer
Players want to feel that their time investment in a game is part of something legendary and permanent. They resonate with deep lore and community-led discoveries that challenge their perceptions and reward their long-term fandom.
Culture
Leveraging the Mandela Effect and the internet obsession with lost media allowed the campaign to go viral through skepticism. The aesthetic tapped into a universal nostalgia for the pixelated era of the 80s and 90s.
Strategy:
Invent a fictional 40-year heritage to transform a mobile game into a culturally permanent legacy gaming franchise.
Results
The campaign achieved significant success: it hit #1 Trending Video on YouTube. The 'Barb's Choco Boom Booms' cereal sold out. There was the highest Brand Lift ever seen amongst the game's fans. The games were released in the Clash app so that the 300 million daily players could replay them. The campaign successfully made the internet believe 'Clash' had existed since the 80s, generating widespread discussion and nostalgia among the community.
#1
Trending Video on YouTube
Highest
Brand Lift
Sold out
Barb's Choco Boom Booms cereal
Strategy Technique
Build a Brand Myth
The campaign aimed to elevate Clash of Clans to legendary status by crafting an elaborate fictional history and alternate universe. This created deep lore, making the brand feel culturally significant beyond a typical mobile game.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Spacetime Warp
The campaign created a fictional 40-year history for a modern mobile game, complete with retro games and a documentary. This warped the game's timeline, making players question its true origins and creating a unique historical narrative.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its audacious, immersive world-building, fabricating a rich 40-year history for a 10-year-old game through meticulous attention to detail across multiple integrated media formats.
The meticulous development and seamless integration of three fully playable retro games, each authentically representing a distinct gaming era, showcased outstanding technical and creative execution.
The creation of believable historical artifacts, mockumentary sets, and physical product designs (cereal boxes, trading cards, action figures), all period-accurate, was crucial in building the immersive illusion.
The campaign's magic truly came from the seamless integration of its brilliant core idea with meticulously crafted digital experiences, physical artifacts, and narrative content, all contributing to a cohesive, believable, and engaging fictional universe.
