🔥⚔️🩸 Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred “SlayPals” 🩸⚔️🔥
Because Hell is More Fun With a Friend
🏆🥇 2024 Shorty Winner - Gold, Gaming + Finalist, Art Direction 🥇🏆
🏆🥈 2024 Telly Winner - Silver, Craft Use of Comedy 🥈🏆
📰 10/17/2024 Ad Age EDitor’s Pick 📰
OBJECTIVE: Tell the world that mercenaries are now available in Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred in a way that breaks beyond endemic gaming media
with a high-profile moment that puts Diablo at the forefront of gaming AND pop culture.
STRATEGY: Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is hard. The enemies are brutal and the dungeons are terrifying. But the new addition of mercenaries makes things a little easier, because with them, you never fight alone and every player can feel more confident taking on hell.
IDEA: Mercenaries are a solo player’s best friend, giving players warm and fuzzy feelings, so we reimagined mercenaries as “SlayPals” — diabolically demented dolls reminiscent of everyone’s favorite childhood companion toys from the 80s and 90s, complete with their own jingle and commercial parody.
🔪 Director’s Cut 🔪
😈 Meet The SlayPals: Cuddliest Killers 😈
A quick look at Mercenary Game Art Vs. Our Bloodlusting (But Lovable) Companion Dolls
“As a culture, we obsess over nostalgic movies, music, and toys. We wanted to tap into ’80s and ’90s nostalgia with a demented, Diablo IV blood-soaked twist,”
Teaser Video - Released the night before
☠️ Merc Merch - The SlayPal Collection ☠️
Exclusive “SlayPals” merchandise with custom campaign illustrations was available for purchase on the Blizzard Gear Store.
The t-shirts represent the first time Diablo has created a Capsule Collection of merchandise for a campaign, rather than a game title.
The Campaign’s Biggest Fan = My Son, who decided he wanted to be Aldkin, the demon child, for Halloween (shoutout to my wife, Kate, for the making the awesome costume happen).
SlayPals Sing-Along + T-Shirt Giveaway Contest 👉👉👉
Fans could enter and win by submitting their own gameplay highlight reel of their character and a mercenary going on a killing spree to the tune of “My SlayPal”
Slaying It With a Real Life Pals
The best part of the project was making great work with IRL friends. The worst part was having that stupid, goddamn song stuck in my head for 3-months.
Core team having a blast on set.
Creative partner, Aimee Brodbeck, and our “babies”.
Fun Fact: Goatman was also our director, Dave Ebert, and there wasn’t enough time in the schedule for him to change back into regular clothes after we shot his scene. Watching him work half-naked as the goatman is one of my greatest joys in advertising.
Having a personal 10+ year friendship with the client def helps get great and daring work sold through. Huge shout out to Krystha Dart — who helped us navigate all the internal hurdles and approvals.
Director, Dave Ebert, checking the monitor in-between goatman takes.
He’s also a TikTok Creator is his own right with 173k followers
Creative presso screenshot, showing clients the first animatic.
Colin Stanley as “Steve” — the actor is also a comedian and TikTok Creator with 381k followers
🔪 🔪 The Team 🔪 🔪
Agency: The Many
Head of Creative: Josh Paialii
Creative Director, AD: Aimee Brodbeck | Creative Director, CW: Nate Totten
Account + Strategy + Project Managers = Aimee & Nate Too!
Designers: Mint Li + Mia Bawale | Photographer: Matthew Moraski
Head of Production: Ayanna Hart
Executive Producer: Liz Corsini + Erin Sullivan
Director: David Ebert, First Ave Machine
Line Producer: Peter Sestina | Director of Photography: Zach Jopling
Editorial Company: Cut + Run
Editor: Sean Stender | Assistant Editor: KC Cory
Managing Partner, EP: Amburr Farls
Head of Production: Brady Fiero | Producer: Ellie Ware
Finishing: Jogger
Executive Producer: Alicia Cargile | Head of Production: Diana Cheng
Lead Flame Artist: Josh Kirshenbaum | Producer: Cameron Leventen | Colorist: Adolfo Martinelli
Music Company: Mophonics Music
Executive Integrated Music Producer: Shelley Altman
Composer: Jorge Ramirez Escudero | Arranger + Sound Design: Stephan Altman
Visual Effects: Stoopid Buddies Stoodios
Head of Puppet Fabrication: Jenny Hogan | Head of Costume Fabrication: Julia Rosner
Molding & Casting Supervisor: Oliver Chapan | Art Director, Character & Prop Design: Josh Mahan
Puppet Fabrication: Stephanie James | Executive Producer: Leigh Kelly | Production Manager: Kelly Cassinerio
Client: Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo
Senior Director, Global Content Marketing: Euni Moon Lee
Senior Manager, Global Digital Marketing: Krystha Dart
Manager, Global Digital Marketing: Pat Coyle | Program Manager, Global Digital Marketing: Melissa Andres
Director, Global Brand Marketing: Daniela Rodriguez | Manager, Global Brand Marketing: Kevin Carmona
Global PR Director: Nick Jones Liang | Senior Manager, Product Marketing: Rachel Siteman
Bonus! Love Letters From Fans
Gamers can be harsh critics, but the especially notorious Diablo community ate it up like cannibals.
