“Star Wars Battlefront” Uses The Force Of Nostalgia In Epic New Ad

When you were a kid you had all the action figures. You spent hours fighting the Empire, on your own and with friends. Your bedroom was Mos Eisley, your backyard was Hoth, your love of Jar Jar Binks non-existent. As we begin another hype cycle for The Force Awakens impending arrival in theaters, EA Games and Playstation are tapping into the force of nostalgia for the new game Star Wars Battlefront.

In the spot by agency BBH New York, a lone dude sits seemingly disillusioned at his desk, likely contemplating the lack of action and adventure afforded him by his benevolent corporate overlords. Until one of his old buddies comes to pick him up at the office in a most unexpected way for what appears to be a LARP session of epic proportions.

BBH New York chief creative officer Ari Weiss says the ad is based on the insight that video games are all about dream fulfillment, allowing us to step into worlds we otherwise could never inhabit and accomplish things we otherwise could never accomplish. Like, say, destroy an AT-AT with our best friends.

“As the idea came to life the team started pulling from their real life examples to make the narrative as authentic as possible,” says Weiss. “Director Lance Acord grew up in Northern California making custom Star Wars rigs for his bikes. Creative Marcos Kotlhar grew up in Brazil spending endless hours drawing all the vehicles from the movies. Creative Lucas Bongioanni grew up in Argentina using flashlights as lightsabers. And I’m pretty sure the two Aussies—creatives Philip Sicklinger and Alex Booker—still get matching R2D2 birthday cakes. It just goes to show it doesn’t matter how old you are or what country you grew up in, the desire to immerse yourself in the fiction of Star Wars is universal and undeniable. We simply wanted to tap into that truth and let fans everywhere know that PS4 will let you fulfill your Star Wars fantasies like never before.”