72andSunny brings back actor Peter Stormare in “The Replacer Returns,” promoting Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
Arriving some three years after 72andSunny first introduced the character for Black Ops II, the spot sees Stormare once again taking on “those pesky day-to-day distractions that come between you and your Call of Duty duties.” This time around, he fills in for an ambulance driver, dog walker, a Teppanyaki chef, guy meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time, father giving “the talk” to his son and a certain media-averse, Skittles-loving NFL player. As with its predecessor, Stormare’s delivery really makes the character, although many of the scenarios are well-crafted as well.
“With Black Ops 3 and the return of the Black Ops sub-franchise, we realized there was a lot of nostalgia and great memories for us to tap into,” Todd Harvey, senior vice president of global consumer marketing at Activision told Adweek. “The Replacer is one of the most-beloved characters in all of Call of Duty marketing. It felt natural for us to revisit him.”
Stormare, for his part, was more than happy to reprise the role. “When we contacted Peter to ask him to continue the Replacer series, he was so excited that he announced his comeback on his own social channel with a short video,” said 72andSunny group creative director Frank Hahn.
During the scene where Stormare replaces a Teppanyaki chef, “He burned his hand on the hot plate, and he ate raw meat,” Hahn added. “On the other stories—I’ll remain silent.”
Credits:
Client: Activision
Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing: Eric Hirshberg
Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Ellis
SVP, Global Consumer Marketing: Todd Harvey
Consumer Marketing Director: David Blaser
Consumer Marketing Manager: Andrew Drake
Agency: 72andSunny
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Group Creative Director: Frank Hahn
Creative Director: Tim Wolfe
Lead Writer: Jc Abruzzi
Lead Designer: Warren Frost
Junior Writer: Matt Meszaros
Group Brand Director: Mike Parseghian
Brand Director: Simon Hall
Brand Manager: Brian Kim
Brand Coordinator: Will Nader
Senior Art Producer: Sabrina Bajaj
Senior Art Producer: Kacey VanDenBosch
Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Jarvis
Group Strategy Director: John Graham
Strategy Director: Daniel Teng
Strategist: Jake Watt
Business Affairs Director: Jana Nauman
Business Affairs Manager: Kelly Ventrelli
Jr. Business Affairs Manager: Ashley Pesses
Senior Producer: Dave Stephenson
Production Coordinator: Ian Donnelly
Production:
Director: Jason Woliner
Executive Producer: Michael Sagol
Executive Producer: Jasper Thomlinson
Executive Producer: Darren Foldes
Head of Production: Kelly Bowen
Producer: Eric Escott