Clash of Clans has four times the fun

Supercell's Clash of Clans mobile game is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, which is an achievement for any brand, but especially for a crowded and fast-moving marketplace like mobile games. 

But, rather than concentrate on the previous 10 years, Wieden+Kennedy Portland wanted fans of the game to experience what Clash of Clans may have looked like in the video game-defining decade of the 80s, the technological leaps of the 90s, and beyond... So, they made 40 years of fake history and decided to play a game with their fans, pulling them down a nostalgia rabbit hole of fake news where the Clash brand could have existed since 1982. 

Above: The brilliantly executed 20 minute documentary, Clash From the Past.

And what did this entail? The campaign kicked off with an animated film from Psyop's Trevor Conrad [top] that sent the Barbarian - the game's star - back in time, trapping him in a real-world arcade game called CLASH. That film was then followed up with a teaser for a documentary on Clash’s history, before a full, engrossing, entirely believable but utterly fake 20-minute documentary called Clash From the Past was released [above]. This featured a fake origin story, fake founders, and the rise and fall of the Clash gaming empire that began –– not in 2012 –– but in 1982. The campaign ends with a final spot [below], again from Psyop and Trevor Conrad, which combines elements of the previous two films and sees the Barbarian take on a new challenge. 

Above: The final spot in the Clash of Clans campaign.

To, as the brand says, "thicken our historical soup of fake news", Clash of Clans partnered with other brands in a bid to transport people to the 80s, 90s and 2000s. General Mills created a cereal called Barb’s Choco Boom Booms that’s actually available on Walmart.com; Champion created a capsule collection spanning four different eras of fashion, while Topps created 20+ unique Garbage Pail Kids cards with Clash character designs also for sale.