Launching shows is tough, stealing attention from Avengers is tougher. To make The Boys’ return the talk of the superhero genre, we needed to:

•Drive buzz amongst fans, becoming the most recommended show on launch weekend.

•Demand attention of new viewers by differentiating from the category.

2021 alone saw the release of over 22 superhero TV shows and movies, including the top 3 grossing films of the year, all from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a quarter when Dr. Strange and Thor were set to dominate the box office, how could a non-MCU title stand-out from the cacophony of capes and sea of sidekicks?

Being a show that’s unapologetically built around corruption, crass comedy and criminals, The Boys had a chance to flip that convention on its head. To break through the superhero whitewash that was the MCU, Prime Video needed to break the rules.

Young male fans of the super hero genre that like things a little more edgy.

According to research conducted by Preply, Australia and New Zealand both rank in the top 4 countries for swearing. As the birth-places of internationally regarded satirical comedies like Flight of the Concords and Summer Heights High, we’re not shy of poking fun down under or across the ditch. We knew that if we gave our fans a reason to talk, they’d talk.

To win attention and share of viewing from the Disney-dominated superhero category (despite releases from some of the MCU’s biggest stars), our campaign for The Boys Season 3 had to wear its provocative, not-safe-for-work themes on its sleeve.

Through a heavyweight special-build campaign, The Boys brought fire and destruction across ANZ by turning our OOH placements into physical manifestations of an angry Billy Butcher, ready to incinerate the first pedestrian to piss him off with lit-up laser eyes – teasing an upcoming season’s twist (Butcher levels the playing-field by gaining superpowers) burning into the minds of fans and new viewers alike.

However, these billboards didn't come close to the destructive attention delivered at our flagship site in Auckland (hometown of Butcher’s actor Karl Urban), where we demanded through an innovative, first-to-market OOH experience that brought Butcher’s new-found powers to life. The neon ‘lasers’ beamed out of Butcher’s eyes on the large format panel, blasting through promotional posters on the wall below, before ‘searing’ through a car parked in the surrounding carpark.

By going on the attack, Butcher burned himself into the minds of over 1.1MM ANZ consumers through outdoor alone… but our reach went further than just in-person impacts.

The Boys Season 3 was the ‘most recommended’ Prime Video show not just at launch, but the entire quarter.

According to Kantar, The Boys Season 3 featured in the top 3 “content recommendations” across Q2.

Laser eyes so bright, they incinerated the competition.

Prime Video claimed #1 share of new SVOD subscriptions in the 3 months preceding launch. We overtook the superheroes in ‘new-to-platform subscribers’, with 5.95% more than Disney+.

Fans organically posted content of the NZ site to the Reddit thread r/TheBoys (545K members), with the post gaining 3.9K upvotes and 2 awards.

The real-life Butcher himself, Karl Urban, loved our work so much he shared it to his personal Instagram story, broadcasting a ‘billboard’ to his 2.4MM followers.