Leaderboard: Is Destiny 2’s marketing brilliant or just plain nuts?

So this morning I’m dishing out cheese crackers for my kid, who was up all night barfing. (If my posts have typos today, it’s because I’m running on just caffeine and gumption.) Anyway, I realize that the Cheez-It box is one whole advertisement that uncomfortably edged into my work-and-fun wheelhouse. It’s Cayde-06 (Nathan Fillion) from Destiny 2, promising me MEGA XP FREE WITH EVERY BOX. All I have to do is text my receipt for my crackers to Bungie’s agents and then I get a code for MEGA EXPIES. I can do this for Pringles, Rice Krispies Treats, Pop-Tarts, and some sort of fruit candy thing that is not actually food. Nathan Fillion wants me to do it, so I probably should, yeah?

That’s not even the only way Destiny 2 is trying to seep into our lives, as apparently Bungie is hyping its new Amazon Alexa tie-in, which I actually thought was a joke when I first read it. It is not.

“The Destiny 2 Ghost Skill serves as a premier companion for Destiny 2 players, creating brand-new ways to interact with the game, players can say, ‘Alexa, ask Ghost to…’ with a variety of utterances — from ‘…tell me which friends are online,’ to asking ‘…what should I do next?’ giving recommendations for what to play next based on players’ real-time current progress, to ‘…call for back up,’ which offers an easy way to interact with friends in their clan to enhance the social experience of Destiny 2, to ‘… equip my Raid loadout,’ equipping players’ favourite weapons and armour for a number of different gameplay activities.”

What should you do next? Obviously, eat some freakin’ Destiny 2-branded Cheez-Its, duh.

And don’t forget the Pop-Tart and candles promos from earlier this year, which you know are going to make a comeback for some snark awards next month.

This is all pretty petty, admittedly, but I am somehow super creeped out when my worlds collide and I see gaming working its way into everyday life. People who like cheese crackers but have never heard of Bungie now know Destiny 2 exists. Alexa is listening to your noob questions about video games. Guys, we don’t even have to hide our hobby anymore. This is huge. And Bungie didn’t even start this; Justin put together an entire list of these weird transmedia synergy things from the past few years.

Is Destiny 2’s marketing brilliant or just plain nuts?

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