Wieden and Kennedy have teamed up with Rovio to launch a multi-channel campaign for the sequel of one of the biggest mobile gaming hits to date, Angry Birds. The launch of Angry Birds 2 kicked off on the 30th July with a 60” online film, putting the smug pigs and their feisty feathered enemies back in players’ hands.

A big, fun, over-the-top live action film, directed by François Rousselet through Riff Raff leads the campaign, promoting the game’s release and helping to recruit players.

Set on Piggy Island, the film transports viewers to a luxurious and delightfully surreal paradise, where happy pigs frolic in the sunshine and swim in crystal clear waters. But Piggy Island is soon revealed to be the setting of an attack by a furious squad of Angry Birds, who have been plotting to take their revenge on their arch enemy, the sneaky, flightless egg-thieving creatures who share the island with them. The film imagines a real-world adaptation of the game’s narrative, weaving fantastic imagery into the familiar world of Angry Birds.

The film was shot in the lush real-life surroundings of Pig Island, also known as the “Home of the Swimming Pigs” or Big Major Cay, in the Bahamas, known for its unique inhabitants: a group of swimming wild pigs.

Cinematographer Martin Ruhe, known for his work on feature films such as ‘The American’ and ‘Harry Brown,’ lent the film an epic, cinematic look while post-production was completed by the visual wizards at The Mill.

Ahead of the launch, co-ordinated activity across social media helped to build anticipation, rallying fans to join the fun and take revenge on the smug, thieving pigs of Piggy Island.

On Instagram, a “smug pigs of Instagram”  (insert link) account (a play on the famously gauche ‘Rich Kids of Instagram’ account) gives fans a taste of what life is like for the lucky pigs living the good life on Piggy Island.

Activity on Angry Birds’ social channels features posters in the visual style of propaganda with a playful Angry Birds twist, counting down to the launch and helping to recruit players, as well as a bespoke poster commissioned by prominent online artist Paul Shipper.

Post-launch there will be supporting social content to help sustain interest in the campaign including Birds vs. Pigs Spotify playlists, re-skinning of the Angry Birds Tumblr,  ‘Wanted Pigs’ posters and ‘Got Eggs?’ social posts.

Iain Tait, ECD at Wieden+Kennedy London, commented: “It's not every day you get to work with one of the world's most iconic entertainment brands. And are asked to do something totally bonkers to launch an amazing sequel. To say that we loved working on this launch would be a massive understatement”

Jussi Mäkinen, VP of Marketing at Rovio, commented: “Getting our fans to experience Piggy Island like never before is what the sequel to the first mobile blockbuster game is all about and what drove the creative vision for our launch campaign”

Ah, D&AD New Blood season. When Shoreditch fills with bright young things showing off their wares and trying everything and anything to get a job. 

As any creative knows, getting that all-important first foot in the door is bloody difficult. That’s why Jason and Joris, who look after our placement scheme, thought they’d do a talk that shows students that there are other ways to grab the attention of prospective employers. Thus “How to get into a creative department without getting arrested” was born.

It all kicked off with a chat from Iain Tait about advertising’s constant struggle to create the “world’s first”, no matter how ridiculous that world’s first is. He said that instead of looking at the newest tech, we should be looking a little further back at more mainstream tech and using it in smarter ways. 

Which (sort of) neatly segued into Jason and Joris’ talk. They showed smart student projects that had caught their eye, and then talked about other clever ways that people had gotten their portfolios in front of prospective employers. 

Saving the best until last, they finished with urban legends of people going to extreme lengths to land a job. Examples of ‘what not to do’ included everything from dogs testicles being posted to us here at Wieden+Kennedy (that one’s true – please don’t try it), to chickens being let loose in an office with CVs attached to their necks (again, also true) and even a team who had an agency’s logo tattooed on themselves (100% definitely true)*.

* If you’re reading this and thinking “oooh, that was me”, what were you thinking?! 

Such was the excitement that we forgot to take our own photo.