Mobile Ad for Black Ops Puts Gamers in the Picture

Activision, MEC Global and Millennial Media have launched a new mobile advertising campaign for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 that lets fans use their cell phone cameras to insert themselves in an ad and then share it.

The campaign uses the new Photo Shoot feature of Millennial Media’s mobile advertising platform. The creative unit is running, in the UK only, as both an expandable banner and an interstitial. It shows an image of a soldier from within the game, with a custom animation in the background showing smoke moving across the screen. A fan can call up the camera function in the phone and take a photo from within the ad. His or her face is then inserted onto the image of the soldier.

The resulting photo can be downloaded or shared via social media directly from the ad unit. Consumers can also visit the Call of Duty mobile-optimized website from within the ad, letting them view game trailers and order the game directly from the mobile device.

The campaign is running on both Android and iOS devices, targeted to gamers and men aged 18 to 34. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, an Activision game released in November, grossed $1 billion in its first 15 days of sales.