We're not quite sure who Smudo and Thomas D are either, but apparently they're big in Germany, as part of a hip-hop group called Die Fantastischen Vier (or "The Fantastic Four"). And now they're starring in two new German Warcraft ads, the first we've seen starring more than one celebrity. Smudo plays a Night Elf Rogue, and Thomas D plays an Orc Warrior, and in both the ad above and one the one after the break, they get the jump on each other -- Smudo lays down a mean sap, and Thomas D brings the full fury of the Horde to bear. Interesting that Blizzard is using PvP ganking to sell the game, but maybe that's a German thing.
My Deutsch is rusty, but you can pull a few things out of there -- when Thomas D is sapped, he says "ich ben ein krieger," which means "I am a Warrior," Schurke means Rogue, and of course right before the tag, as with all of the other commercials they are saying, "What's your game?" Blizzard's ingame animation department just keeps getting better, too. I really, really want those glasses for my Orc. Really.
I can see a pattern emerging here, where Activision digs up pop culture has-beens with cash flow problems (In the U.S.: JCVD, Mr. T, Shatner), and puts them in WoW commercials. The Fantastic Four had their heyday in the early 90's, and pretty much vanished from the radar since.
The only guy I didn't know was that stand up comic from the spanish WoW commercial, but judging by the other clips, he's probably way past his prime as well.
This was apparently first shown on TV last Monday at prime time during the latest "Simpsons" episodes, and suddenly you could read in like every chat channel "lol, Fanta4 WoW commercial".
German transcript for those who want to improve their "deutsch":
Smudo: Hi, ich bin Smudo - ich bin ein Schurke. Ein Meister der Tarnung! Blitzschnell! Skrupellos! Eiskalt! *Tschack* Thomas D: Du hast was vergessen... S: Hä? T: Dass du verdammt gut rennen kannst! S: Danke du Kriegerdepp! T: Gern geschehen. S: Ich bin Smudo und ich bin Schurkeeee! T: Was spielst du? Speaker: World of Warcraft - kostenlos testen unter warcraft.de
Thomas D: Hi, ich bin Thomas D und ich bin ein Krieger. Eine alles vernichtende Kampfmaschine! Nichts und niemand kann mich aufhalten! Smudo: ...nichts und niemang kann mich aufhalten... T: ...was kannst du so besonderes? S: Hah, ich bin Schurke und manchmal sogar unsichtbar! T: Ich ... bin ... ein ... Krieger ... S: Hihihihihi - was spielst du? Speaker: World of Warcraft - kostenlos testen unter warcraft.de
If you don't know which is which maybe you should turn the sound on... ;-)
Die Fantastischen Vier are pioneers in German hip hop. With the exception of very very early songs they only rap in German which is probably the reason why they are only known in German-speaking countries. They also have rather intellectual, often philosophical lyrics, so we're not talking about gangsta rap here.
They were also the second German act (after Herbert Grönemeyer) who had an MTV Unplugged special.
The ads are cool - I especially like the glasses of Thomas D's orc... ;)
I dont really understand why bliz is paying celebs for a commercial, wow pretty much sells itself now with close to 12 mil..
you dont really need to advertise. not to mention with half the servers have Que issues and with the "additional instances cannot be launched please try again later" problem, the last thing they need is more customers.
The same reason any of the big guys bother advertising anymore. Pepsi, Nike, McDonalds...they certainly don't need to advertise anymore, everyone knows who they are, but they like to flaunt their stuff anyways. It's a matter of clout.
I myself have been a Fanta 4 fan for ages - even more surprising that Blizz chose them as they are definitely the "forefathers" of HipHop in Germany (and man, they are the BEST), but, well, as forefathers they are also kind of old and not that "in" or even well known with younger generations (as far as I know).
Really interesting to see which age group Blizzard is aiming at with the commercials. :)
Maybe the decision to feature PVPing is related to the regulations about "respect for life" or whatever the phrase is. A friend of mine was an in-house QA'er for System Shock II, and he told me that for the German edition they had to make all the blood green instead of red and clear away some of the more graphic background art (of bodies and body parts lying around) in order to release it there. (The entertainment regulations have something to do with banning stuff that is especially callous towards death and killing, which is of course related to not wanting to repeat the horrors of the past.) So maybe they thought showing two players interacting would make a better commercial than showing someone killing monsters.
By the way, one fun factor about these new commercials is that Fanta4 had a big song called "Krieger" (meaning warrior) sung by Thomas D who now plays the Krieger...
Dec 3rd 2008 at 12:30PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
hENNIFER pANTALON Dec 3rd 2008 12:39PM
Dude needs to l2 glyph for blurred speed.. much faster than swimming away from a warrior.
Sprachen muh nutz
Spine Dec 3rd 2008 1:38PM
*groan
I can see a pattern emerging here, where Activision digs up pop culture has-beens with cash flow problems (In the U.S.: JCVD, Mr. T, Shatner), and puts them in WoW commercials. The Fantastic Four had their heyday in the early 90's, and pretty much vanished from the radar since.
The only guy I didn't know was that stand up comic from the spanish WoW commercial, but judging by the other clips, he's probably way past his prime as well.
Lemons Dec 5th 2008 3:22PM
Maybe that's the point, these guys have time to play WoW now that they're washed up.
But seriously who can hate on William Shatner?
timmy! Dec 11th 2008 10:54AM
Their cheaper than someone like Brad Pitt, or Derek Jeter.
MC Hammer next. calling it now!
Sorano Dec 3rd 2008 12:41PM
Learn from this Rogues: when you see a warrior, just run away. ;P
Socordia Dec 3rd 2008 12:45PM
This was apparently first shown on TV last Monday at prime time during the latest "Simpsons" episodes, and suddenly you could read in like every chat channel "lol, Fanta4 WoW commercial".
AndiM Dec 3rd 2008 1:01PM
The "Fanta 4" are considered to be one of the pioneers of German hip hop from what I know (being German but not really into Hip Hop).
And yep I want these googles as well :).
Walden Dec 3rd 2008 1:04PM
Love these! My best friend wants to play WoW now, hoping she can meet Smudo this way. *g*
Here's a quick translation:
Smudo: Hi, I am Smudo, I'm a rogue... Master of disguise, fast as lightning, ruthless, ice cold...
Thomas D: You forgot something... you can run bloody good.
S: (running) Thanks, warrior-dork.
T: Your're welcome!
S: I am Smudo, and I am rogue!
---
T: Hi, I am Thomas D, and I'm a warrior. A destructive killing machine, nothing can ever stop me!
S: (mimicing him) nothing can ever stop me...
T: (annoyed) And what can you do that's so special?
S: (whispers) I am a rogue, and sometimes I am invisible. *sap*
T: I.. am... a... warrior...
Sukrim Dec 3rd 2008 1:20PM
German transcript for those who want to improve their "deutsch":
Smudo: Hi, ich bin Smudo - ich bin ein Schurke. Ein Meister der Tarnung! Blitzschnell! Skrupellos! Eiskalt! *Tschack*
Thomas D: Du hast was vergessen...
S: Hä?
T: Dass du verdammt gut rennen kannst!
S: Danke du Kriegerdepp!
T: Gern geschehen.
S: Ich bin Smudo und ich bin Schurkeeee!
T: Was spielst du?
Speaker: World of Warcraft - kostenlos testen unter warcraft.de
Thomas D: Hi, ich bin Thomas D und ich bin ein Krieger. Eine alles vernichtende Kampfmaschine! Nichts und niemand kann mich aufhalten!
Smudo: ...nichts und niemang kann mich aufhalten...
T: ...was kannst du so besonderes?
S: Hah, ich bin Schurke und manchmal sogar unsichtbar!
T: Ich ... bin ... ein ... Krieger ...
S: Hihihihihi - was spielst du?
Speaker: World of Warcraft - kostenlos testen unter warcraft.de
If you don't know which is which maybe you should turn the sound on... ;-)
Sukrim Dec 3rd 2008 1:22PM
Damn, no editing...
It's of course "Smudo: ...nichts und nieman_d_ kann mich aufhalten..."
Even native speakers make mistakes! :-P
Rene Dec 3rd 2008 1:23PM
Die Fantastischen Vier are pioneers in German hip hop. With the exception of very very early songs they only rap in German which is probably the reason why they are only known in German-speaking countries. They also have rather intellectual, often philosophical lyrics, so we're not talking about gangsta rap here.
They were also the second German act (after Herbert Grönemeyer) who had an MTV Unplugged special.
The ads are cool - I especially like the glasses of Thomas D's orc... ;)
Sarem Dec 3rd 2008 1:27PM
I dont really understand why bliz is paying celebs for a commercial, wow pretty much sells itself now with close to 12 mil..
you dont really need to advertise.
not to mention with half the servers have Que issues and with the "additional instances cannot be launched please try again later"
problem, the last thing they need is more customers.
Yeng Dec 3rd 2008 2:04PM
The same reason any of the big guys bother advertising anymore. Pepsi, Nike, McDonalds...they certainly don't need to advertise anymore, everyone knows who they are, but they like to flaunt their stuff anyways. It's a matter of clout.
Jarla Dec 3rd 2008 1:34PM
I was so surprised to see these two commercials!
I myself have been a Fanta 4 fan for ages - even more surprising that Blizz chose them as they are definitely the "forefathers" of HipHop in Germany (and man, they are the BEST), but, well, as forefathers they are also kind of old and not that "in" or even well known with younger generations (as far as I know).
Really interesting to see which age group Blizzard is aiming at with the commercials. :)
AndremedaSC Dec 3rd 2008 2:07PM
Maybe the decision to feature PVPing is related to the regulations about "respect for life" or whatever the phrase is. A friend of mine was an in-house QA'er for System Shock II, and he told me that for the German edition they had to make all the blood green instead of red and clear away some of the more graphic background art (of bodies and body parts lying around) in order to release it there. (The entertainment regulations have something to do with banning stuff that is especially callous towards death and killing, which is of course related to not wanting to repeat the horrors of the past.) So maybe they thought showing two players interacting would make a better commercial than showing someone killing monsters.
kire Dec 3rd 2008 2:25PM
I may be behind on these but has anyone seen the Ozzy Ozborne one where he is an undead lock? I saw it the other night and nearly died laughing.
Microtonal Dec 4th 2008 5:58AM
I love that one. Cracks me up every time I see it.
tbh, I've always enjoyed WoW's ad campaign. I still like the Shatner/Troyer/Mr. T series that runs periodically.
Naix Dec 3rd 2008 2:26PM
Hardcore servers (PVP Servers) are way more fun than hello kitty servers.
mr.gerbz Dec 3rd 2008 2:56PM
ZE GOGGLES, ZEY DO NOTHINK!!
Thomas Dec 3rd 2008 4:22PM
By the way, one fun factor about these new commercials is that Fanta4 had a big song called "Krieger" (meaning warrior) sung by Thomas D who now plays the Krieger...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEn1YqfADuw