Chili's Stadium

The Chili's restaurant chain was looking to draw customers into the restaurant for the 2018 World Cup matches. Their initial ask was to create a series of social media ads that would work on an international scale. As an alternative to bombarding customers with more social ads, I pitched the idea of making a short, bite-sized game customers could play with their phones in augmented reality. The players would be entertained while waiting for their food at the table or during commercial breaks watching the game.

The game was pitched to be promoted using a food place mat as the tracking marker. This was key for several reasons:

1.  It would serve as additional advertising and a QR code to download the game for a captive audience at the booth/bar.
2. To avoid using ARCore or ARKit for a markerless experience (which only worked on newer phones), using the place mat as the tracking marker would open up the game to a wider range of phones/tablets.
3. The tracking marker was designed as the soccer pitch/field, so its visual function would tie back into the game.

Subsequent social promotions, player customization, and competition within the game would generate viral sharing among the world cup fans. The app was a huge success compared to the normal social campaigns of the past. The app was also cross-platform, allowing shared play between both android and iOS devices.

I believe a key, decisive victory I struck to ensure the app's success was securing client and agency approval to implement "The Distraction" power up. This power up enabled the player to send a nude streaker (with pixilated junk) running across the pitch causing the opposing player to look away in horror and lose track of the ball. I await my place in the game design hall of fame.

Responsibilities:

• Creative Director
• Writing