Call of Duty aims for the truth

The annual release of a new Call of Duty game is usually met around the world with the sound of fanfare and the trilling of cash registers.

Ahead of 2024's iteration, Black Ops 6, a new teaser campaign looks to spark the public's consciousness with a provocative and multi-layered execution that reveals the deep, unseen realities of the 90s.

Called The Truth Lies, the new campaign, created in partnership with 72andSunny, has been designed to reveal the new game’s name and key art work to the world, and focusses on a period in time which many might remember as a time of glitz and glamor, bright lights and pop music; the 90s. 

But, in the world of Black Ops, the reality is that while those things were going on, there was also a secret war being waged behind the scenes, in the darkness, to keep the peace. The campaign dives into the trenches of this secret war. The new campaign questions the validity of the truth and where it comes from, with teasers placing provocative messages on institutions or symbols of political leadership, power, media and law to build the sinister world of the Black Ops game in 1991. 

The first teaser [below] includes a video of a stunt where Mt. Rushmore is being blindfolded with the message 'The Truth Lies', with accompanying paid newspaper articles [above] in the NY Post and USA Today also showing the stunt.

Call of Duty also approached artist and activist Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One to develop a one-of-a-kind poster that brings the line 'The Truth Lies' to life [bottom]. The posters were placed across NYC, LA and Mexico City, as well as handed out to influencers. This went live in tandem with the Mt. Rushmore video to reinforce the campaign's message around the world.

The second wave of the campaign is the launch of the hero spot, The Truth Lies in the Dark [top], and reveals the new game’s official key art and box art. Through the use of prosthetic artists, likeness and voice casting, the film features famous politicians and military leaders Saddam Hussein, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, George H Bush and Colin Powell as their 1991 selves to deliver a chilling message which challenges the public and has them question their reality and everything they knew to be true. By tapping into these controversial figures, the film grounds the game immediately in a state of realism tied to events that happened in 1991.