Football superstar Erling Haaland has become a video game character as part of a new partnership with Supercell’s mobile game Clash of Clans.
The partnership will see the Norwegian forward become the famous ‘Barbarian King’ character as part of an epic, football-themed seasonal game event. It’s the first time a character based on a real person has been added to the popular game, which has been downloaded over two billion times.
Fans will be able to play as Haaland in Clash of Clans and enjoy a host of football-themed features appearing in the game throughout the month, including special troop characters and medal events. As an additional fun challenge, fans will also have the chance to defeat Haaland’s in-game village.
Haaland is known around the world for his football skills – but he also knows a thing or two about video games.
Haaland is a long-time fan of Clash of Clans, building an impressive in-game village that he’s defended from rival clans. It’s his love of Clash of Clans that prompted him to partner with the game.
Agency DAVID New York is behind the campaign, which includes this epic movie-style trailer in which we see Haaland encounter characters from the game before being transported into the animated world of Clash of Clans. Axis Studios served as animation house, with Olly Reid directing the animation.
Andre Toledo, chief creative officer at DAVID New York, said, “A partnership between Erling Haaland and Clash of Clans? It doesn’t get more iconic than that! It was amazing to work alongside the incredible team at Supercell on how to make this collaboration even more iconic. We’re excited to share everything we’ve prepared, so stay tuned!”
Credits
Client Supercell, Clash of Clans Agency DAVID New York Pancho Cassis, global chief creative officer; Andre Toledo, chief creative officer; Linus Oura, Sebastien Rouviere, Pedro Sattin, creative directors; Guillherme Pinheiro, associate creative director; Paula Vampre, global strategy officer; James Mitchell, group strategy director; Brooklyn Carey, strategist; Brenda Morrison Fell, head of production; Natasha Louckevitch, executive producer; Sophie Freid, associate producer. Animation Axis Studios Nicole Duncan, Chris Wenting, exec producers; Olly Reid, director; Olga Kotas, Magdalena Grzesz, producers; Carys Evans, live-action producer; John Huikku, CG supervisor; Mateusz Mizak, art director; Ariadna Roa Salazar, production manager; Nico Almafitano, Marie Ravoavison, production coordinators; Paul Coulthard, storyboard; Misha Oplev, Garet Hector, color script artists; Yannick Kawan, environment concept; Charles Downman, FX concepts. Summer Kou, lead layout artist; Daphne Chabrier, Daniel Volosozhar, Jimmy Farrington, layout artists; Ekaterina Pushkarova, lead character artist; Carl Forsberg, Marceli Guziewicz, Carlo Kasongo, character artists; Eilidh Brown, blendshape artist; Jessica Cheung, lead environment artist; Alec Walker, Josef Bsharah, Daniel Mille, Kazuya Tachibana, Michael Hoft, environment artists; Alex Williams, props artist; Tiago Beijoco, lead rigging TD; Louise Masse, Ryan Federman, Fiona Lynch, Eilidh Brown, rigging TDs; Coline Della Siega, lead CFX artist; Andrew Cook, David Graham, Will Pryor, CFX artists; Jose Domato Pedreira, animation lead; Roy Margalit, Claudia Taylor-Smith, Quentin Retif, Amaury Bretnacher, Pamela Rivera Badillo, Andrea Delfino, Saumya Goyal, Michel De Silva, Perrine Phelizon, animators; Spike Meesters, lead FX artist; Arthur Muller, Gerard Garcia, Kristina Vajdova, Henri Morain, Erik Campeaux, Santiago Cabrera, Silvia Pascual, FX artists; Surendra Rajawat, DMP artist; Daniel McCance, lead lighting artist; Nick Knapp, Laura Gerlier, Patrick Topf, lighting & compositing artists; Cameron Mitchell, grading; Marjorie Dutriaux, lighting TD/Sweatbox-tech renders; Louise McGregor, head of editorial; Emma Nathan, editor; Lea Gudelj, Duncan Formosa, assistant editors; Parag Gupta, project TD; Chloe Campbell, Sandra Kimm, render support; Simon Carr, creative supervisor; Nicolas Drew, VFX exec producer; Jessica Phillips, VFX producer; Julian Martin-Samos, VFX supervisor; Jeremy Berruel, asset supervisor; James Sellers, matchmove supervisor; Simon-Pierre Puech, comp supervisor; Adam White, 3D generalist; Colette Nunes, head of editorial; Alexandre Pavot, pipeline supervisor; Andrew Clunes, render support manager. Music Butter Music and Sound Andrew Sherman, chief creative officer; Dan Zank, executive creative director; Renee Masse, exec producer; Coke Youngblood, composer/arranger; Warren Wolfe, producer; Anneliese Daley, music coordinator. Audio Post Mr. Bronx Geoff Strasser, sound design/mix; Dave Wolfe, audio post creative director; Maggie Norsworthy, producer. Production Company, Live Action–Manchester Tom Gent, exec producer; Emily Mules, producer; Lyndsey Shingler, Jamie Tarr, production managers; Bruce Gill, location manager; Terry McShane, 1st AD; Louise Meadows, makeup artist; Natalie Armin, stylist; Bohdan Pylypchuk, choreographer. Production Company, Live Action, Oslo, Social Tom Gent, exec producer; David Lieb, director; Jordi Estape, producer; Lyndsey Shingler, Jamie Tarr, production managers. Production Service Company Monky Productions Harvard Schei, line producer; Jack Maddison, DP.
Directed by Steve Rogers via Biscuit Filmworks for agency VCCP London, this spot titled “Memory” opens with a daughter visiting her father at his home, a bar of Cadbury Wholenut chocolate in hand. Her father, living with dementia, smiles at the sight of the chocolate, recognizing it as a gift his daughter has bought him since she was a child. In this moment, he doesn’t recognize her as his daughter. Instead, he begins to tell her how this ritual gifting always makes his wife laugh because, as he proudly reveals, he’s always hated nuts.
The daughter can’t help but laugh, touched by the idea that her father has kept this secret for so long. As he looks at her earnestly, he asks her not to tell his “daughter”--meaning her--about the secret, because “it makes her so happy.” The daughter responds softly. “It does.” She recognizes the quiet generosity of her father’s long-held secret, something he’s kept hidden from her all these years, despite not always remembering who she is.
Cadbury is committed to telling inclusive stories rooted in human truths that are representative of the U.K. To ensure the story’s accurate portrayal of people living with dementia, Cadbury consulted with specialists throughout the development of the film.
Cadbury has extended its partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, into 2025. The two organizations first joined together in 2024 to celebrate the role of Cadbury in the nation’s shared memories and to support the charity’s mission for a cure for dementia.
“Memory” was brought to life with the help of VCCP’s global content production studio Girl&Bear. The film will run across the U.K. throughout 2025, appearing on TV, VOD,... Read More
