If you're under the age of 30, chances are very good you have more than one friend who plays online games. And, among those online gamers, chances are also good that they play Maplestory. Its simple free-to-play model has really caught on, bringing in tens of millions of players worldwide.

Still, up until this point, Maplestory has been appealing to only a fraction of the total population of the U.S. Nexon America is looking to change all that, and one of the big first steps is an ad campaign leading back to http://www.maplestory.com/free. Opinions of the ads vary wildly, but they always get a reaction.

GameDaily BIZ talked with a group representing both Nexon and advertising firm Ayzenberg about this unique and quirky campaign.

Why are you slapping each other with fish?

The TV spots are very outlandish in their content and they're probably unlike any video game ad you've seen in the past. In them, people are slapping each other with fish, putting snails on themselves and walking a pig wearing a gentleman's hat. The unifying message is that these odd activities are free... and so is Maplestory. The ads ooze the sort of "dork cool" like from the movie Napoleon Dynamite, and even if they don't make you interested in the game, they sure get your attention.

"[Nexon and Ayzenberg] talked about how we wanted to go after folks that aren't necessarily gamers and we felt like if we showed gameplay people would put it in a box, like, 'Oh, I know what that is," explained Lance Callahan, Marketing Manager for Nexon America. "If [the ad] was different, it might make people intrigued in the product."

"It was about creating enough intrigue to get people to sign up for the game," commented Vincent Juarez, VP of Media for Ayzenberg.

Still, the ads are a bit of a risk. It's a gamble whenever you create a game ad and don't feature any gameplay (or anything even vaguely resembling gameplay). Gamers are an outspoken bunch, and the ads drew comments from the whole spectrum of praise to criticism from Maplestory's 3 million U.S. players.

"No one would ever accuse gamers of not having their opinions," said Vincent Juarez, VP of Media for Ayzenberg. "Maplestory gamers have taken ownership of the product, so they have the right to have their own opinion. There's been feedback from many directions; some people get it, some people understand that it's not for them and others simply loathe the ads. The important part is that they know that they've got a voice about this. If they don't like the ad, there's a contest to make their own. They can take it upon themselves to make a video of their own, going 'Hey, I could do better than that.' With this promotion... [Maplestory players will] know this was targeted at them."

"We have a contest to make their commercial, which will run on G4. There's going to be the 'immortalization' of a non-player character into the game for the winner," he added.

It's a... bottle opener!

In order to catch the right mood, Ayzenberg brought on top talent to produce the piece. Director Erich Joiner (who did the Bud Light "He's Got An Ax" Super Bowl spot) and Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson both contributed to the ad that's run on Cartoon Network, Sci-Fi, Fuse and MTV's family of channels. Despite (or perhaps because) of the odd nature of the ads, Nexon has reported a 300 percent increase in their site's traffic.

"We worked with Nexon and the vibe we wanted to create," said Blake Firstman, Creative Director at Ayzenberg. "We sent the script to a handful of directors, the folks that we felt were the best in the biz. We had a choice of a couple guys, both of which were great. We went with Erich Joiner, who is an amazing talent, and it was a pleasure to work with him; it was a great experience."

In particular, we thought the fish with the Indian accent was especially memorable in the ads. When asked about it, Firstman said, "We've been receiving thousands of calls about the fish and we don't get a constant answer from how people feel about it. We thought there was something wonderful about it, how it embodied our campaign; just keeping it entertaining and simple and not taking itself too seriously."

"I did the voices in the rough cut, expecting others to use professional voice talents," confessed Firstman. "I think that they felt that the 'unprofessional' sound was really the way to go, that it was not just odd but aggravatingly odd. [Our CG team] was really open to doing some unconventional work as well. But it just complements what the ads are about: people are doing really odd things, and others are really interested in what they're doing."

It's out of the ordinary... and it's free

While these Maplestory ads are unusual, it may be ultimately appropriate for a game that's changing the online space, both in the U.S. and abroad. Set up so that it is supported with micro-transactions, the game is successfully merging social networking elements with gameplay. All told, Maplestory has over 72 million players worldwide, and the game's following is only growing larger.

"Absolutely it was our intent to broaden Maplestory's audience," said Juarez. "It was created out of how we wanted to expand and it makes for a good campaign overall."

"Just to add to the whole campaign strategy, we've tried to saturate and focus on the core gamers and expanded that audience to include anime people and casual gamers and now to make it mainstream. People like free stuff and people who play this game are people who are looking for something different. [Nexon and Ayzenberg feel] we're really pushing the limits of what can be done," concluded Firstman.