Un/cultured 03

These Barbies went to Comic-Con

July 28, 2023

Happy Friday! Here’s the third issue of Unobtainium’s roundup of games, entertainment, and fandom — written and curated by real, non-AI humans in a post-convention daze. Anyone need some gently used glow sticks or a ludicrously capacious swag bag?

WE MADE THIS / SDCC

Tekken 8 + Armored Core 6 immersive activations @ SDCC 2023

Despite studios and networks having to pull back on panels and activations, it felt to those of us on the ground like the Con was back, especially for core comic fans and gamers. We worked with Bandai Namco to bring two immersive experiences to the fans — fully loaded with hands-on gameplay, pro cosplay, photo ops, swag, celeb cameos, and even interactive skill tests to see if you had what it takes to pilot a giant mech. Special thanks to Volpin Props for the spectacular mech build.

TECH / BRAND CHAOS

Twitter rebrands as Eastern European vape company, hijinks ensue

Pour one out for the (ex-) strongest brand in social media: Twitter shall henceforth be known as X. Tweets, the most basic unit of internet communication since 2006, are dead forever — or at least until Elon changes his mind again. Long live “X’s” (though we suggest Xeets™).

The revelations got weirder (and dumber) all week long: Meta already holds the trademark for X as it relates to “online social networking services,” while Microsoft owns the X trademark as it relates to video game services. Elon’s logo of the future turns out to be the “X” from a $30 font jazzed up with an Envato glitch template, which AT BEST was lifted without permission from a podcast that Elon liked – and it’s now it’s all haphazardly pasted all over various assets that … totally … don’t … match. And the final touch (well, who are we kidding): Twitter straight up ganked the @x handle from Orange Photography’s co-owner after 16 years, with zero compensation.

While Elon was chaotically “rebranding” and Threads was picking up steam, TikTok has entered the chat with … well, text (posts).

GAMING / SAG-AFTRA STRIKE

FYI: SAG-AFTRA strike doesn’t include video games

According to an FAQ for SAG-AFTRA members, “commercial or video game work is not covered by the strike.” Great news for people who love games that use celebrity talent – a list that grows longer every year – from Norman Reedus in Death Stranding to JK Simmons lending his voice to Baldur’s Gate 3.

It’s also useful news if you’re looking to produce a commercial, especially with a creative agency who often leverages celebrity talent in their work for video games and other IPs.:)

ENTERTAINMENT / MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

But what does all the Barbenheimer mean

The movie event of the summer – an unexpected double feature forged in a hot pink mushroom cloud – has soared to insane new heights at the box office, with ‘Oppenheimer’ scoring a strong $82 million opening weekend while Barbie cruised past $162 million (making Greta Gerwig the highest debuting woman director of all time). 

As fans, we’ll be talking about this collision (check out the Barbenheimer Pitch Meeting) as one of summer’s biggest cultural moments for years to come, and wondering what our next cultural mashup moment will be. But as marketers, it has to be all about Barbie — the record-breaking performance, the conservative backlash that actually fueled the momentum, and the pink wave of fun and clever elements (planned and organic), that came together in an all-time great campaign. It has been a masterclass in giving OG fans what they wanted, while welcoming the new fans to the party. Already, we’ve been inundated with a kiloton of case studies and think pieces to break it all down.

From where we sit, Barbie’s success comes from celebrating fandom instead of exploiting it. There’s the usual story here about movies and merch — shelves of pink products benefiting from partnership. And there is the sheer amount of money (reportedly well over $100MM) that has been spent. But had the film simply been another IP-cash-grab, much of this might have fallen flat. With Barbie, Greta Gerwig has something to say about our current cultural moment, and we’d argue that this is the real takeaway for studios looking to make successful toy/game adaptations in today’s world: fandoms grow when you offer more than just a product to buy. Because Barbie and Ken aren’t just products, they’re cultural touchstones — and fans will pay, not only to see more stories in a universe they love, but as an act of support for the universe they love. Sure, there is still the big question of whether Barbie’s campaign promotes opportunistic consumerism, or serves as an extension of the film’s commentary about her evolving influence on the zeitgeist. But when you do it this right, it can absolutely be both.

MOBILE / #SHITTYMOBILEGAMEADS

Misleading mobile game ads become very clever real games

Ever see a mobile game ad, and think “gee, that looks pretty fun,” only to download it and find that what you installed has absolutely nothing to do with the ad? This obnoxious bait-and-switch tactic has been an unfortunate addition to the mobile performance playbook for quite some time – and game studios continue to do it, even as players rage about it.

Well, developer Monkeycraft decided to actually make all those games, and we couldn’t be more jealous of the idea. Kinda makes you wonder why these studios didn’t just make the thing that captivated people in the first place.

The aptly-titled Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let’s See You Clear Them! is available for $10 on Switch and Steam now.

SOCIAL / TRENDING NOW

Main character energy makes room for NPC livestreaming

Meet creator PinkyDoll, who has shaken the TikTok Live Stream world by acting like your garden variety video game NPC, complete with her own list of ever-repeating lines responding to viewer interactions. The lines are rhythmic and super earworm-y: “Mmm! Ice cream so good!” “Balloon! Pop pop pop!” “Gang, gang!” — and the response is equal parts “this is satisfying” and “that’s enough internet for today”. Naturally, it has already inspired an avalanche of copycats. Did we mention she’s making $7000/day doing this?

FANDOM

May we recommend...

  • Queens on a Quest | Dimension 20: Dungeons and Drag Queens: Critical Role has paved the way for actual plays, opening the door for unexpected and hilarious collabs like this one starring Bob the Drag Queen, Monet X Change, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Jujubee.

  • They Cloned Tyrone | Netflix: You know that nightmare you have where you’re a drug dealer, and the government is doing secret scientific experiments on clones of your body? Well this blaxploitation x Cabin in the Woods mashup might be for you…

  • Invincible - Atom Eve | Prime Video: Dropping on the, um, eve of Comic-Con, one of the best supes in the biz is finally getting her origin story.

  • OXENFREE II: Lost Signals | Netflix: : This agency strongly (and partially impartially) recommends Oxenfree II to anyone seeking a creepy narrative adventure that fits perfectly on your second screen. We’d hate to see this game fail to get the traction it deserves because it’s in Netflix’s fledgling (and slightly confusing) games offering, and we can’t wait to see more from Night School.

  • Barbenheimer: Oh, just do it. Go be part of the cultural moment. Even if you don’t like Barbie or bombs, get over yourself. This is about all of us now.

Unobtainium is an agency for special brands that have fans. We help build and grow the most passionate, loyal fandoms in the world. Learn more.