An unbreakable controller for frustrated gamers

(The unbreakable controller from Verizon)

In the world of video games, nothing is worse than internet lag. And when gamers lag, they tend to take their frustration out on the first thing that’s closest to them: their controller. Verizon Fios, named best internet for gaming by PCMag, wants to show gamers that the Fios network can be the solution to lag frustrations, and that simply switching to Fios could help them step up their game.

Just a quick search of YouTube will turn up hundreds of videos that show gamers throwing, kicking, and stomping on their controllers to soothe their anger. 

So, Verizon Fios is getting their attention in the most gamer way possible: by trolling them… with a controller that’s unbreakable. [Created to handle typical gamer tantrums, but not literally unbreakable.] 

The campaign, from McCann, gets the Unbreakable Controller into the hands of one of the gaming world’s biggest influencers, Nate Hill of FaZe Clan. Naturally, he’s using it to troll his fellow teammates that don’t have Fios, by challenging them to test its durability through a series of hilarious challenges, like hitting it with a bat, dunking it like a basketball, and throwing it off a balcony. 

Each test will show that even though the controller is incredibly strong, there’s still no substitute for better internet and that FaZe Clan really just needs Verizon Fios.  Watch the hilarious video below:



And this controller? It’s definitely no prop. We went through the process of having it made for real by partnering with product designer Steven Brower of Brower Propulsion Laboratory. He created a bespoke video game controller that can withstand the frustrations of laggy gamers.

Taking inspiration from the diabolical ironclad beetle, the controller was constructed with a durable, aluminum shell and then surrounded by a soft foam that cushions the shell from impact. Its bright orange color was intentionally chosen to reflect the humorous nature of the product and the childish anger gamers show when they lag out. 

But the campaign doesn’t stop with a controller and a troll job, the campaign also engages gamers at some of their most frequented websites like Kotaku, with a deep dive editorial about the Unbreakable Controller, along with high impact digital placements. We’re even taking it beyond the gaming community by partnering with influencers like tech reviewers and content creators.

Each one is receiving the controller along with a challenge to put it to the test in their own unique way and share the results with their fans. 

And at the end of the day, all of this could’ve been avoided if gamers across the country had simply chosen Fios from the get-go. But until then, it’s up to us to remind laggy gamers everywhere… it’s this or Fios. 

CREDITS: 

CLIENT: Verizon 

  • Andrew McKechnie, SVP, Chief Creative Officer 
  • David Bowen, VP, Marketing Communications 
  • Colby Schneider, Director, Marketing Communications 
  • Olga Bermudez Paiva, Manager, Brand Creative 
  • Emily Plunkett Fleischer, Manager, Broadcast Production 

AGENCY: McCann= NY 

  • Thomas Murphy, Co-Chief Creative Officer, North America 
  • Sean Bryan, Co-Chief Creative Officer, North America 
  • Matthew Curry, EVP, Deputy Chief Creative Officer 
  • Cristina Reina, SVP Executive Creative Director 
  • Alex Little, VP, Group Creative Director 
  • Karsten Jurkschat, SVP, Group Creative Director 
  • Rene Delgado, Associate Creative Director 
  • Colby Spear, Associate Creative Director  
  • Lerthon Theuma, Copywriter 
  • Joan Heo, Art Director 
  • LeAndra Langhorne, Copywriter 
  • Erika Casales, Art Director 
  • McCann NY Account: 
  • Dominic Whittles, EVP, Managing Director 
  • Liz Der, SVP, Executive Account Director 
  • Sue Han, SVP, Group Account Director 
  • Justin Perrelli, Account Director 
  • Jordan Hamilton, Account Supervisor 
  • Marguerite Daly, Account Supervisor 
  • Jessica Peterkins, Assistant Account Executive 
  • McCann NY Strategy: 
  • David Webster, EVP Executive Strategy Director 
  • Jennifer Peterson, SVP Executive Strategy Director 
  • Beth Windheuser, Senior Strategist 
  • Whitney Alexander, VP Strategy Director Social and Mobile 
  • McCann NY Production:  
  • Nathy Aviram, Chief Production Officer 
  • John McAdorey, SVP Executive Producer 
  • Brian Collins, Producer 
  • Laura Kellerman, Producer 
  • Jeannette Subero, Senior Innovation Producer 
  • Christine Lane, SVP Director of Innovation 
  • Amber Briscoe, Senior Innovation Producer 
  • Mihae Mukaida, Senior Innovation Producer 
  • McCann NY Project Management: 
  • Anne Denny, Project Management Director 
  • Holly McNally, Associate Project Manager 
  • Eliza Butts, Project Manager 
  • McCann Business Managers:
  • Anna Owens, Junior Business Manager  

PRODUCTION: CRAFT Production

  • Theodore McFail, Digital Producer 
  • David Lillis, Tech Lead Display Ads 
  • Rich Goldstein, Executive Digital Producer 
  • Faiza Islam, Senior QA Engineer 
  • Puneet Oberoi, QA Engineer 
  • Jeffery Feder, Senior Developer 
  • Joseph Goldstein, QA Engineer 

EDIT: No6 Editorial & Finishing: 

  • Editor: Ryan Bukowski 
  • Assistant Editor: Alyce Muhammad 
  • Producer: Charlotte Delon 
  • Head of Production: Laura Molinaro 
  • Executive Producer: Corina Dennison 
  • Senior Flame Artist: Ed Skupeen 
  • Finishing Producer: Mark Reyes 

AUDIO: Sonic Union 

  • Mix Engineer: Brian Goodheart 
  • Producer: Nathanael Taylor 
  • Studio Director: Justine Cortale 

Brower Propulsion Laboratory R&D 

Steven Brower, Founder 
 

PHOTOGRAPHY: Giant Artists 

  • Photographer: Jessica Pettway 
  • Agent: Dana Eudy 
  • Producer: Lynda Goldstein 

BTS VIDEO PRODUCTION: MMXX 

Videographer: David Siev 

MEDIA AGENCY: VM1 

INFLUENCER AGENCY: Captiv8  

PACKAGING AGENCY: Utley’s Inc.  

TALENT PARTNER: FaZe Clan 

BRANDED CONTENT: Kotaku 

(The unbreakable controller from Verizon)

In the world of video games, nothing is worse than internet lag. And when gamers lag, they tend to take their frustration out on the first thing that’s closest to them: their controller. Verizon Fios, named best internet for gaming by PCMag, wants to show gamers that the Fios network can be the solution to lag frustrations, and that simply switching to Fios could help them step up their game.

Just a quick search of YouTube will turn up hundreds of videos that show gamers throwing, kicking, and stomping on their controllers to soothe their anger. 

So, Verizon Fios is getting their attention in the most gamer way possible: by trolling them… with a controller that’s unbreakable. [Created to handle typical gamer tantrums, but not literally unbreakable.] 

The campaign, from McCann, gets the Unbreakable Controller into the hands of one of the gaming world’s biggest influencers, Nate Hill of FaZe Clan. Naturally, he’s using it to troll his fellow teammates that don’t have Fios, by challenging them to test its durability through a series of hilarious challenges, like hitting it with a bat, dunking it like a basketball, and throwing it off a balcony. 

Each test will show that even though the controller is incredibly strong, there’s still no substitute for better internet and that FaZe Clan really just needs Verizon Fios.  Watch the hilarious video below:



And this controller? It’s definitely no prop. We went through the process of having it made for real by partnering with product designer Steven Brower of Brower Propulsion Laboratory. He created a bespoke video game controller that can withstand the frustrations of laggy gamers.

Taking inspiration from the diabolical ironclad beetle, the controller was constructed with a durable, aluminum shell and then surrounded by a soft foam that cushions the shell from impact. Its bright orange color was intentionally chosen to reflect the humorous nature of the product and the childish anger gamers show when they lag out. 

But the campaign doesn’t stop with a controller and a troll job, the campaign also engages gamers at some of their most frequented websites like Kotaku, with a deep dive editorial about the Unbreakable Controller, along with high impact digital placements. We’re even taking it beyond the gaming community by partnering with influencers like tech reviewers and content creators.

Each one is receiving the controller along with a challenge to put it to the test in their own unique way and share the results with their fans. 

And at the end of the day, all of this could’ve been avoided if gamers across the country had simply chosen Fios from the get-go. But until then, it’s up to us to remind laggy gamers everywhere… it’s this or Fios. 

CREDITS: 

CLIENT: Verizon 

  • Andrew McKechnie, SVP, Chief Creative Officer 
  • David Bowen, VP, Marketing Communications 
  • Colby Schneider, Director, Marketing Communications 
  • Olga Bermudez Paiva, Manager, Brand Creative 
  • Emily Plunkett Fleischer, Manager, Broadcast Production 

AGENCY: McCann= NY 

  • Thomas Murphy, Co-Chief Creative Officer, North America 
  • Sean Bryan, Co-Chief Creative Officer, North America 
  • Matthew Curry, EVP, Deputy Chief Creative Officer 
  • Cristina Reina, SVP Executive Creative Director 
  • Alex Little, VP, Group Creative Director 
  • Karsten Jurkschat, SVP, Group Creative Director 
  • Rene Delgado, Associate Creative Director 
  • Colby Spear, Associate Creative Director  
  • Lerthon Theuma, Copywriter 
  • Joan Heo, Art Director 
  • LeAndra Langhorne, Copywriter 
  • Erika Casales, Art Director 
  • McCann NY Account: 
  • Dominic Whittles, EVP, Managing Director 
  • Liz Der, SVP, Executive Account Director 
  • Sue Han, SVP, Group Account Director 
  • Justin Perrelli, Account Director 
  • Jordan Hamilton, Account Supervisor 
  • Marguerite Daly, Account Supervisor 
  • Jessica Peterkins, Assistant Account Executive 
  • McCann NY Strategy: 
  • David Webster, EVP Executive Strategy Director 
  • Jennifer Peterson, SVP Executive Strategy Director 
  • Beth Windheuser, Senior Strategist 
  • Whitney Alexander, VP Strategy Director Social and Mobile 
  • McCann NY Production:  
  • Nathy Aviram, Chief Production Officer 
  • John McAdorey, SVP Executive Producer 
  • Brian Collins, Producer 
  • Laura Kellerman, Producer 
  • Jeannette Subero, Senior Innovation Producer 
  • Christine Lane, SVP Director of Innovation 
  • Amber Briscoe, Senior Innovation Producer 
  • Mihae Mukaida, Senior Innovation Producer 
  • McCann NY Project Management: 
  • Anne Denny, Project Management Director 
  • Holly McNally, Associate Project Manager 
  • Eliza Butts, Project Manager 
  • McCann Business Managers:
  • Anna Owens, Junior Business Manager  

PRODUCTION: CRAFT Production

  • Theodore McFail, Digital Producer 
  • David Lillis, Tech Lead Display Ads 
  • Rich Goldstein, Executive Digital Producer 
  • Faiza Islam, Senior QA Engineer 
  • Puneet Oberoi, QA Engineer 
  • Jeffery Feder, Senior Developer 
  • Joseph Goldstein, QA Engineer 

EDIT: No6 Editorial & Finishing: 

  • Editor: Ryan Bukowski 
  • Assistant Editor: Alyce Muhammad 
  • Producer: Charlotte Delon 
  • Head of Production: Laura Molinaro 
  • Executive Producer: Corina Dennison 
  • Senior Flame Artist: Ed Skupeen 
  • Finishing Producer: Mark Reyes 

AUDIO: Sonic Union 

  • Mix Engineer: Brian Goodheart 
  • Producer: Nathanael Taylor 
  • Studio Director: Justine Cortale 

Brower Propulsion Laboratory R&D 

Steven Brower, Founder 
 

PHOTOGRAPHY: Giant Artists 

  • Photographer: Jessica Pettway 
  • Agent: Dana Eudy 
  • Producer: Lynda Goldstein 

BTS VIDEO PRODUCTION: MMXX 

Videographer: David Siev 

MEDIA AGENCY: VM1 

INFLUENCER AGENCY: Captiv8  

PACKAGING AGENCY: Utley’s Inc.  

TALENT PARTNER: FaZe Clan 

BRANDED CONTENT: Kotaku