Michael Phelps and Danny McBride Go to Outer Space for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

With global temperatures rising and the most obscene U.S. presidential election in recent memory taking place, 2016 might feel like the worst year ever. But whether you're an average joe on the street or celebrity swimmer Michael Phelps, Call of Duty's new game, Infinite Warfare, is ready to help you escape. The new live-action trailer for the Activision title opens on a young man beset by dire news reports. Beside himself, he does the only reasonably thing. He hops in a spaceship and takes off from Earth altogether. "2016 has been a year full of shock and head shaking," says Matthew Curry, group creative director at 72andSunny, which created the ad. "As we got further into the year, the idea that you could leave the insanity behind to go have some badass fun felt like rich territory. So we came up with the ultimate solution to a world gone mad: Screw it! Let's go to space." Cue blastoff to a high-octane interplanetary gunfight, wherein the ad fulfills its obligation as a CoD trailer to deliver a explosion-packed, celebrity-studded fantasy blending live action and computer graphics, ultimately featuring surprise banter between Phelps and comedian Danny McBride. (A red-band trailer, launching Friday, will feature more in that vein.) As usual, a driving, guitar-driven soundtrack—in this case, "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses—is key. (Past CoD ads have featured "Gimme Shelter" and "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones. Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," meanwhile, featured in a 72andSunny ad for another Activision title, Destiny). "Classic rock has a timeless cool to it," says Curry. It fits perfectly with the badass fun and swagger of the Call of Duty brand. For this particular spot … we considered everything from end-of-the-world songs to songs about escape. In the end, 'Welcome to the Jungle' had the perfect tone and message to tee up the badass fun of battling through the chaos of space." As for casting, diversity was the driving factor, based on emphasizing the CoD franchise's broader sales pitch—"There's a soldier in all of us." But there was some strategy in the cameos, as well. "We instantly loved the idea of taking Michael Phelps, the winningest human on Earth, and putting him in space to see how he fared," says Curry. "Danny McBride was the perfect person to steal his kill, and his thunder." The trailer, launching today, is the culmination of a massive push to promote latest title in a hugely success franchise. Infinite Warfare, launching Nov. 4, is the first to be set in space. "The campaign for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare consisted of literally over 100 marketing elements, all highlighting what is unique and different about this title," says Todd Harvey, svp of global consumer marketing at Activision. "With 'Screw It, Let's Go to Space,' we've focused on creating a broad message that taps into the pop culture happening around us, while transporting players into the new game world of Infinite Warfare. The launch of Call of Duty is a pop-culture moment, and in that sense, the news of the day serves as a great starting point to play on that sense of escapism to enjoy the next epic entertainment launch of the year." Past elements in the campaign have included the ambitious "Hostile Takeover" in-game activation in the prior Black Ops 3 title. Social activations launching later this week will include #EarthWorldProblems—a Twitter response campaign from Edelman playing on the popular #FirstWorldProblems trope, and "Terminal Tours" from AKQA—a Facebook Messenger walkthrough of the dangers of playing CoD in space. As for whether 72andSunny had a specific candidate in mind, as the one moderating punches in the face during a particularly egregious debate, Curry maintains it was "no one in particular. We wanted a line that spoke to the insanity of the election season, so we really gunned at an unbelievable moment. Problem is, things have been so crazy that no matter how hyperbolic we went, you could argue it was still believable." In other words, strap in. CREDITS Activision, Call of Duty Team: Chief Executive Officer, Activision Publishing: Eric Hirshberg Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Ellis Senior Vice President, Global Consumer Marketing: Todd Harvey Senior Vice President, Consumer Engagement, Digital Marketing, Public Relations: Monte Lutz Senior Director, Consumer Marketing: Carolyn Wang Senior Manager, Consumer Marketing: David Cushman Associate Manager, Consumer Marketing: Jared Castle Coordinator, Consumer Marketing: Lynn Ballew Senior Director, Digital Marketing: Justin Manfredi Senior Manager, Digital Marketing: Rich Elmore Senior Manager, Digital Marketing: Mario Sgambelluri Digital Marketing Associate Manager: Peter Bowman Vice President, Global Media: Caroline McNeil Senior Director, Global Media: Simone Deocares-Lengyel 72andSunny Team Chief Executive Officer: John Boiler Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Jarvis Director of Strategy: Bryan Smith Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap Group Creative Director: Matthew Curry Creative Directors: Robert Teague, Tim Wolfe Senior Designer: Jon Hall Writer: Matt Meszaros Designer: Lauren Albee Group Production Director: Angelo Mazzamuto Senior Film Producer: Dave Stephenson Junior Film Producer: Skyler Courter Group Brand Director: Rhea Curry Brand Director: Simon Hall Senior Brand Manager: Brett Schneider Brand Manager: Will Nader Strategy Director: Daniel Teng Strategist: Jake Watt Partnerships and Legal Director: Kallie Halbach Partnerships and Legal Manager: Jesse Sinkiewicz Partnerships and Legal Coordinator: Molly Hogan Production Company: Pony Show Entertainment Director: Peter Berg Director of Photography: John Schwartzman Production Designer: Jeff Mann Partner: Susan Kirson Executive Producer: Helga Gruber Head of Production: Gareth Wood Editorial: Work Editorial Editor: Jono Griffith Assistant Editor: Keith Hamm Executive Producer: Marlo Baird Producer: Lynne Mannino Visual Effects: MPC Creative Director: Paul O' Shea Visual Effects Supervisor: Michael Gregory Computer Graphics Supervisor: David White Colorist: Ricky Gausis Visual Effects Producer: Matt Olmon Line Producer: Ekta Gupta Visual Effects Coordinator: Sarah Laborde 2-D Lead: Nikkesh K 2-D Supervisor: David Rouxel 3-D Lead: Jacob Oommen Visual Effects: Pixomondo Visual Effects Supervisor: Timothy Hanson Executive Producer: Mandie Briney Visual Effects Producer: John Baer Bidding Producer: Patrick Neighly Digital Effects Supervisor: Patrick Schuler Compositing Supervisor: Spencer Hecox Previz Supervisor: Matt McClurg Paint/Roto Supervisor: Lance Ranzer Rigger/Maya Technical Director: York Schueller Senior Production Coordinator: Enoch Davis Production Coordinator: Antonia Oelmann Costumes: Legacy Effects Effects Supervisor: J. Alan Scott Production Coordinator: Damon Weathers Sound Design: Formosa Group Supervising Sound Editors: Per Hallberg Sound Designers: Ann Scibelli, Jon Title, D. Chris Smith First Assistant Sound Editor: Philip D. Morrill Recording Studio, Mix: Lime Mixers: Rohan Young, Jeff Malen Assistants: Ben Tomastik, Lisa Mermelstein Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan OMD Team Group Account Director: Natalie Holbrook Associate Media Director: Carly Haw Media Supervisor: Amir Ghareaghadje Senior Media Strategist: Justin Levenstein Media Strategist: Natalie Garretson Assistant Media Strategist: Deveny Rohrer PMK•BNC Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing and Communications: Michele Wyman Senior Director, Brand Marketing and Communications: Mark Van Lommel Senior Director, Talent Relations: Jonathan Kichaven Senior Account Executive, Talent Relations: Ashley Studer Program Manager: Chong Kim Account Executive, Brand Marketing and Communications: Renee Felton Edelman Executive Creative Director: Jordan Atlas Group Director, Activision: Zach Tindall Vice President, Strategy, Activision: Sam Kennedy Associate Creative Director: Chris Swanson Senior Account Supervisor, Activision: Lauren Curtis Senior Strategist, Call of Duty: Ben Lewis Project Manager, Activision: Katie Stemler Copywriters: Gabe Duran, Ronnie Lee, Matt Kugler Art Director: Michele Pappas Designers: Alex Sutton-Hough, Ji Choi Senior Community Manager: Justin Fitzwater Community Managers: Kurt Wendler, Jason Suh Vice President, Insights and Analytics: Michael Fein Manager, Insights and Analytics: Jocelyn Swift Analysts: Tyler Phillippi, Carol Chu Junior Analyst: Megan Cooper AKQA Creatives: Group Creative Director: Nick Strada Creative Director: E.B. Davis Art Director: Nils Westgardh Art Director, Photographer: Oscar Wickman Associate Copywriter: Tandeka Lauriciano Senior Designers: Cliff Li, Hovin Wang, Charles Calixto, Enoch Tengler, Randy Santos Account: Client Partner: Kristin Goto Account Director: Erin Morgan Production: Program Manager, Executive Producer: Cody Lucas Director, Film and Motion: David Shuff Motion Designer: Ryan Jones Senior Production Artist: Jim MacMurray MediaMonks Films: Director: Rogier Schalken Assistant Director: Mel Anderson Director of Photography: Dallas Sterling Executive Producer: Lauren Becker Line Production: Theresa Marth, Mark Aran Post Supervisor: Wesley Kolsteeg Post Producers: Marlose de Rijke, Gerben Molenaar PullString: Head Writer: Scott Ganz Writers: Eva Steele-Saccio, Jessica Kitchens, Nicholas Pelczar Operations Manager, Producer: Jennifer Dobbs Head of Enterprise: Mike Houlahan Infrastructure Engineering Lead: James Chalfant

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Michael Phelps and Danny McBride Go to Outer Space for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Fleeing Earth, into the otherworldly CoD universe

Gabriel Beltrone

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Gabriel Beltrone