&sq=crain_ford&lang=en&file=File:Thelife.jpg) Tarkov as he appears in the final scene of The Life | |
| Agency | T.A.G. |
|---|---|
| Client | Microsoft |
| Language | English (text) Hungarian (speech) Welsh (lyrics) |
| Running time | 150 seconds |
| Product | |
| Release date(s) | September 7, 2009 |
| Directed by | Rupert Sanders |
| Music by | Human |
| Production company | Morton/Jankel/Zander |
| Produced by | Eric Stern |
| Country | United States |
The Life, also known as We Are ODST, is a television and cinema advertisement launched in 2009 by Microsoft to promote the first-person shooter Halo 3: ODST in the United States. The 150-second piece follows a young soldier through enlistment, training, and battle as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST), analogous to a paratrooper that drops from space to a battlefield. The Life was created by advertising agency T.A.G., an offshoot of McCann Erickson. Production of the commercial itself was handled by production company Morton/Jankel/Zander (MJZ). It was directed by Rupert Sanders, and post-production was conducted by Asylum. It was filmed in Hungary, just outside Budapest in a coal mine and abandoned factories to give the sequence an "Eastern Bloc" aesthetic. The commercial and its associated campaign proved hugely successful; on the week of its launch, Halo 3: ODST became the top-selling game for the Xbox 360 worldwide, and over 2.5 million copies were sold within the first few weeks of release. The Life went on to win a number of honours from the advertising and entertainment industries, including two Clio Awards, a London International Advertising Award and several honours from the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the most prestigious awards ceremony in the advertising industry.