GEARS FANS ARE SO DEDICATED THAT WE MADE AN AD ENTIRELY OUT OF THEIR TATTOOS
Gears of War is a video game known for the extreme dedication of its community. So much, in fact, that Gears fans around the world have tattooed themselves with characters, symbols and weapons.
To give back to that community, Xbox set out an experiment: could a new Gears ad, with an all-new Gears story, be created entirely from the tattoos of fans?
This is the result.
The story shows iconic series hero Marcus Fenix battling enemies General Raam and Queen Myrrah, but facing defeat, Gears fans and new protagonist Kait Diaz come to his rescue, combining their weapons to finally conquer their foes.
Directed by Sam Gainsborough - Blinkink
A SOCIAL FIRST CAMPAIGN
Unlike traditional productions where you start with a script to then make the film, it all started from fans in different markets including London, LA, NY, Mexico City and Vancouver, who had to send pictures of their existing and new Gears tattoos to be part of the tribute film.
Our application form collapsed in minutes!
NO CGI, REAL TATTOOS ONLY!
We had to collate images and edit in real time until a compelling story was created without any supporting CGI. Only real tattoos, original dialogues and sound FX from the game were painstakingly selected and synced for this execution.
WORKING WITH TOP TATTOO ARTISTS FROM 5 CITIES
Most of the tattoos were crowdsourced, but we didn’t want to let fans out from this tribute. Therefore, we gave away free tats to those who want to participate.
We let them choose and workshop their own tattoo with top tattoo artists from renowned parlours such as: Gristle (NY/LA), Soy Feliz (Mexico City), The Fall (Vancouver), Gypsy Blood (London).
AWARDS>
Cannes - SHORTLIST - Film Craft - Postproduction - Editing - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2020/2021
Clio Entertainment - GRAND CLIO - Games - Original Content - Fan Driven - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2021
Clio Entertainment - GOLD - Games - Audio/Visual Craft - Editing - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2021
Clio Entertainment - GOLD - Games - Original Content - Fan Driven - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2021
Clio Entertainment - SILVER - Games - Original Content - Creative Content - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2021
Clio Entertainment - SILVER - Games - Social Media - Long Form Social Video - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2021
Clio Entertainment - BRONZE - Games - Audio/Visual - Spot - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2021
The One Show - MERIT - Film - User-Generated Content - Xbox 'Bound By Ink'/ McCANN London / 2022