Monopoly Go! encourages friendship in first global campaign

Mobile game Monopoly Go! released its first global campaign today—a series of comedic, star-studded television and social media videos starring Will Ferrell as the voice of Mr. Monopoly.

Friendship Pays, designed by Omelet advertising agency and Scopely, which created Monopoly Go!, also features Jason Momoa playing Momoney, Chris Pratt playing Extra Chrispy and Keke Palmer playing Keke GoGo. Together, the team of friends robs banks, speeds around the Monopoly Go! board in the game’s token car and breaks out of jail.

“We wanted to bring to life the rollercoaster of playing Monopoly with friends,” Jamie Berger, SVP of marketing at Scopely, told Campaign US. “One moment, you’re competing with each other, charging rent and robbing banks, and the next moment, you’re all playing together.”

This journey takes place in GOville, a city blending the real world with the “fantastical and bonkers” Monopoly Go! universe, said Raul Montes, Omelet’s creative director. GOville is home to a Mr. Monopoly Statue of Liberty, a GOville Hollywood sign and streets replicating the Monopoly Go! gameboard. 

“Monopoly has always been so iconic and part of culture,” Montes explained. “We took Monopoly’s iconic visuals and integrated them into the real world, and I fell in love with making this Monopoly world modern.”

Monopoly Go! is a free mobile app game that launched in April 2023 and was the No. 1 mobile game in the U.S. and U.K. in 2023. Scopely, which created Monopoly Go!, is America’s No. 1 game maker. 

Rollout for Friendship Pays includes over 20 short videos and two 45-second television spots that will break before Monday Night Football and continue throughout NFL programming. Friendship Pays will continue after these advertisements as a long-term creative concept, and will continue to partner with Ferrell as the voice of Mr. Monopoly throughout the various projects.

Friendship Pays will also serve as a tool to evolve new game features, which are usually updated each quarter, with expansions into more influencer partnerships, podcast engagement and social media advertising. Although the campaign’s television spots are limited to the U.S., its digital aspects are global.

“This isn’t just a TV campaign, but a global digital campaign,” Berger explained. “The talent we work with, the fact that the pieces are not dialogue-heavy and are more focused on expressions — it was to design something that could be successful in every market.”