Un/cultured 04

Red, white, and royally buzzworthy.

August 21, 2023

We’re red, white, and royally buzzworthy. Why not start the week with Unobtainium’s fourth roundup of games, entertainment, tech, and fandom?

INFLUENCERS / DEPT. OF WHAT NOT TO DO

With great power comes great responsibility

On August 2nd, streamer Kai Cenat told followers he was planning to do a gaming giveaway in Union Square. Over 10,000 followers said they’d attend, and that Friday, over 6,000 actually showed up. Neither Cenat or the NYPD were prepared, and chaos ensued, people jumping on cars, climbing street signs, setting off firecrackers, even throwing things at police. 66 arrests were made and Cenat was charged with inciting a riot. He has since taken to Twitch to express his disappointment over what transpired – not outright blaming his followers, but also not quite accepting responsibility. (In all fairness, he tried to calm the crowd on Friday, but by that point things had already gotten beyond his control).

With such power comes, well, the responsibility not to get people trampled in your own personal Black Friday mob. Cenat had skyrocketed to Twitch’s #1 subscribed streamer and earned Streamer of the year after about 2.5 years on the platform, so he should have – and arguably did – know the power of his own influence, and its implications. What should have been a big moment for him turned out to be a big hit to his reputation, and if he’d been collaborating with a brand, they’d have gotten dragged down with him. We’re not suggesting that drops or giveaways are off the table — but they can and should be carefully planned and managed with safety in mind.

TECH / CLOUD GAMING

Netflix is so very close to going big with gaming

Netflix is continuing to make big investments in games – a years-long process for any industry titan that wants to do it right. As you know, we’re fans of their latest offering Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (and not just because we created some interesting adventure backpacks for the title that were enjoyed by influencers like GameOverGreggy). The good folks at Night School have come up with something truly special – just check out this review from the New York Times.

Culty narrative games aside, we’re having a lot of fun watching the gaming platform grow. Just this week they launched an app-based game controller for you to play games on your TV, signaling a major expansion beyond their mobile-first strategy. And they recently launched a AAA studio in southern California led by key creatives on Overwatch, Destiny, and Halo – huge, calculated moves.

We hope to soon see all of the quality of life standards Netflix has painstakingly developed for their TV and film side, most of all a centralized library of games that are recommended, searchable, streamable, and downloadable.

But the thing we’re happiest about is that Netflix is being so careful about rolling out cloud gaming mode – so they can succeed where others (*coughStadiacough*) have crashed and burned.

MARKETING / UNADVERTISING

Make content, not ads

We tend to look at every touchpoint an opportunity to give fans more of what they love — especially things that contribute to a greater story. A great example is the first episode drop of Pokémon: Path to the Peak, a 10-minute animated short following a young girl as she discovers the Pokémon club at her school.

Sure, you’re watching an advertisement for the new Pokémon set. But give it a chance – it’s honestly pretty entertaining, and it’s dripping with nostalgia about playing Pokémon with your friends at recess. This animated piece is closer to the ethos of the original anime than it is to a marketing promo. This kind of leveled up, thoughtful content proves that you can make every asset part of the greater whole.

TECH / OOH, OUT OF HOME

Taxi driver(less)

Waymo and Cruise – two of the biggest players in the autonomous vehicles space – were just approved to operate robotaxi services 24/7 in San Francisco, and despite another couple of hiccups, we’re getting closer to the inevitability of robotaxis as the dominant form of point-to-point transit, all day and all night.

Which means there are some pretty cool marketing implications, outside and inside the vehicle. For example: what if we were to deploy a swarm of off-duty, wrapped robotaxis along special routes in certain target advertising locations? What if we transformed the interior of a van, so it’s more like you’re sitting back on a couch in a lounge or theater? Or even buckling yourself into the captain’s chair on your own starship? Automated vehicles will provide an amazing canvas for creativity.

WORK / WE DID SOME THINGS

Fast. Friends. Forever.

Sonic’s theme this year is friendship – and it reminds us of all of the fun we’ve had working on (and playing!) his games over the years. That’s why we were honored to help create this year’s Sonic Brand theme, Fast Friends Forever, and bring this celebration of Sonic fandom to life. Special shoutout to the unstoppable Soundlings for the original song that runs throughout the spot.

Red, White & Royal Blue

We helped promote Amazon Prime’s latest breakout romantic comedy by tricking out a double-decker bus, staffing it with the most chiseled secret servicemen and King’s royal guards in LA, and letting fans hop on and off at several stops for some good ol’ fashioned karaoke duets. TBH, we’d jump at any chance to partner with Milk Bar to celebrate love, but bringing the bus to Hamburger Mary’s for their legendary drag show was the icing on a very smushed wedding cake. Thank you to our friends at Cat/Alina Productions for pulling this off so beautifully.

FANDOM / LET’S PLAY (AND WATCH, AND READ)

May we recommend...

IYKYK

  • Baldur’s Gate 3. And we’re not alone. Between D&D dice rolls and bear sex scenes, the game has already shattered all expectations, with over 800,000 concurrent players.

  • Talk to Me. Spooky season isn’t here yet, but we’re always down for a good scare. And this one already got a sequel for a reason – a refreshing blend of social media realness and demonic psychological horror that scratches an itch you didn’t even know you have.

  • Red White & Royal Blue. Drink in some happy, fizzy, uncomplicated summer rom-com fun, which is currently sitting at a 80% rating on RT (and reigniting our not-so-guilty love of the genre).

  • Yamamoto & Yohji. If, like us, you appreciate flowing, “crow style” costume silhouettes (think Final Fantasy VII or XV) rather than clingy, oversexualized kind of designs — you may enjoy this close look at the work of famed fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto.

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