Gears of War 3’s ‘exploding graffiti’

Xbox is kicking off its Gears of War 3 campaign with a bang – literally.

The third instalment in the 13m selling shooter series – out Tuesday, September 20th – will receive a huge marketing campaign consisting of store takeovers, print activity, first-of-its-kindlive TV ads and special graffiti art made by triggering explosions.

We’re incredibly excited about the launch of Gears of War 3,” said Xbox’s UK sales and marketing director Stephen McGill. Yes, it’s the end of the trilogy, but it’s also the biggest console exclusive of the year.

This is undoubtedly the best in the series. We’ve got high commercial expectations for Gears of War 3, but feel really good about the quality of the product and the demand from our passionate Gears fans.A blockbuster triple-A title like Gears of War 3 will of course have a suitably blockbuster campaign to back it up.”

TV ad ‘Dust to Dust’ premiered this week and will run throughout launch with 30-second and 60-second spots targeting males aged 16 to 34 years old. This will be followed by a live TV ad airing on September 21st. The spot will display in-game stats in real-time such as the amount of players online, urging viewers to buy the game and join them.

Microsoft has also teamed up with a renowned explosive graffiti artist. Increased fan activity on Facebook and paid-for media will trigger detonations that make Gears characters appear on a stone wall. The promotional mural can then be viewed online.