Who needs yoga, meditation or aromatherapy when you can smash things to release anger and stress? That’s the philosophy behind Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam’s latest interactive campaign for Electronic Arts’ Burnout Dominator game, which is known as the king of speed and destruction. The game challenges players to face off against a series of hot-blooded rivals in tests of reckless driving.
The campaign is based on Kah Ra Shin, which originated in 19th-century Tibet. (Any similarity Kah Ra Shin many have to the word ‘crashing’ is purely incidental.) The interactive website www.kahrashin.com teaches visitors how to use the Kah Ra Shin philosophy of releasing inner peace through outer violence through several videos. One demonstrates simple object destruction, starting off with a humble pencil, while another features “freestyle” object destruction. One video shows how for extreme cases of deep rooted and pathological anger, masters prescribe a new method of release–the adrenalin-fueled Burnout Dominator.
“What everyone loves about EA’s Burnout Dominator is its pure and unabashed celebration of destruction. The truth is, it feels good to smash into things at high speed. And after a stressful day at the office, there is something even pleasantly cathartic about it. The worldwide global phenomenon, Kah Ra Shin, and its mantra ‘inner peace through outer violence’ was born from this insight,” said Mike Farr, W+K Amsterdam copywriter.
In addition to The Teachings, there is also a section on the site called the Way of the Scream, which stresses the importance of screaming to achieve inner peace. Visitors can upload their own scream, listen to other people’s and send theirs to a friend. You can also learn the history of the movement–for example how the first temple was built but then destroyed two weeks later by an overzealous disciple–and read testimonials. Each section is light on text but heavy on visuals.
“We wanted it to be full of interactive animations. It was important that it would be both rich in details and full of surprises. We also wanted to acheive this with as little text as possible so that it is very visual, easy to understand and accessible to a wide audience. I hope that the overall result makes you smile and makes the viewer want to share it with their friends,” said Joakim Borgstrom, W+K Amsterdam’s interactive creative director.
He said overall it was an easy site to create. All the animations and content within the website were built in Flash. The hardest part of the whole process was to create the backend structure that converts and feeds all the screaming videos. USSR and CCCP, both located in Amsterdam, were involved in the production of the site.
Borgstrom is pleased that instead of creating a typical gaming site, the creative team took the concept of the game to another level and created a whole movement. “The feeling of playing the game and releasing your inner demons relates directly to the teachings of this new philosophy, ‘inner peace through outer violence’. It’s a great idea with a strong concept that is stunningly executed,” he said. Along with Borgstrom and Farr, W+K Amsterdam’s creative directors Eric Quennoy and Paul Stechschulte and art director Joseph Ernst headed up the campaign.
How The Hollywood Awards Calendar Has Been Affected By The Wildfires
Hollywood's awards season has all but come to a rare halt as the wildfires continue to disrupt life and work in the Los Angeles area. There are near daily updates from the Hollywood guilds and organizations that put on awards shows as the industry navigates the ongoing crisis.
Here's an overview of the major upcoming awards shows, from the Oscars to the Grammys, including updated dates for nominations.
Producers Guild and Writers Guild award nominations
Postponed, no new dates announced
The Writers Guild of America nominations were to be announced Jan. 8, a date that was pushed to Jan. 13 and then postponed indefinitely. The Producers Guild of America nominations for feature films were to be announced on Jan. 10, which was pushed to Jan. 12 and then postponed to an unspecified date this week.
Academy Award nominations
Jan. 23
The Oscar nominations have been twice-delayed — they were initially slated for Jan. 17, then Jan. 19, before being delayed again. The delay in the announcement accommodates an extended voting deadline, as many Academy members have been affected by the wildfires.
The nominations will be announced via a "virtual presentation," eschewing press on site.
Critics Choice Awards
Jan. 26
Originally slated for Jan. 12, the awards were set to take place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, only miles from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where fire was raging.
The awards will be broadcast live on E!, hosted by Chelsea Handler.
Grammy Awards
Feb. 2
By virtue of announcing their nominations back in November, the Grammys' schedule has largely been unaffected by the wildfires. Some... Read More