How We’d Fix Ads for Mobile Games

As advertising professionals, we tend to take our critical eyes with us into the world when we clock out. So, while out and about or at home watching TV, we’re judging every ad we see. Most people don’t notice (or care) when the spokesperson for a local mattress store delivers a line that has a grammatical error, or when a can of soda is in a different spot on the coffee table after a cut. We do.

We pay close attention when something is exceptional. We pay even closer attention when something is exceptionally bad. That in mind, let's talk about mobile games.

Mobile game ads have fantastic clickthrough rates. Probably because the “x” in every mobile game ad is so small that you miss, accidentally tap on the ad itself, and get sent straight to the app store every single time. This discussion will be more about form than function. Is there a way to create mobile game ads that are aesthetically pleasing and create a better user experience? And can they continue to be effective?

Current Trends in Mobile Game Ads

Having already made the somewhat bold, sweeping insinuation that mobile game ads aren’t great, you deserve some specifics.

Fake Gameplay

There’s a pervasive trend of mobile game ads showing gameplay that is entirely different from the actual game they’re advertising. This is different from having a cinematic, CGI ad for a game that doesn’t have quite the same animation quality (though there are plenty of those types of ads for mobile games as well). This is flat out lying. It's deceiving the consumer.

In advertising, there’s an understanding, both with the advertiser and consumer, that the product or service featured in the advertisement may be embellished slightly. The burger you buy from McDonald’s seldom looks exactly like the one in the commercial. Consumers have experienced this enough where they look at ads with a bit of scrutiny, knowing that advertisers are only going to highlight the best parts of a product. They probably don’t worry themselves with fitting the product’s shortcomings into a 30-second script.

What these mobile game ads are doing, however, crosses the line from showing your product in a good light to showing a different product altogether in a way that feels completely unethical. When you pull a McDonald’s cheeseburger out of the bag, you wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t look quite as good as the one in the commercial. But you’d probably be surprised if it wasn't a burger at all, but instead a Big Mouth Billy Bass.

Here’s one example: an ad for a game called Hero Wars.

You’ll notice it looks nothing like this screenshot of the actual gameplay.

Screenshot from a Mad Genius employee’s phone who downloaded the game to do research for this blog and is regretting their life choices.

Another weird thing is that these fake mobile game ads are often faking the same types of games. Believe it or not, these are all ads for different games.

Fake Reactions to Fake Gameplay

It’s not enough to lie about the product. You also have to lie about peoples’ reactions to the product. A lot of these ads that feature gameplay that includes actors with over-the-top reactions to what’s happening on screen.

WARNING: Make sure there are no children in the room when you watch this. Make sure there are no adults in the room either because it’s extremely cringe. And if someone sees you watching this, they’ll probably think less of you.

Fake reactions are honestly not a particularly new trend among digital advertisements, but these mobile game ads have taken it to its most extreme, where it’s almost a parody of itself.

Celebrity Endorsements

Mobile games generated over eighty-one billion dollars of revenue in 2024, so they have money to burn. And burn it they do, by spending it all on casting celebrities to star in their ads. This has been a relatively recent phenomenon for the mobile game industry, but they have moved in this direction with a quickness. The first prominent example we can think of is this ad campaign for Monopoly Go! from November 2024 that stars Chris Pratt, Keke Palmer and Jason Momoa.

The first time we saw this, it was honestly a little shocking to see not just one, but three people that famous in the same commercial for a mobile game. How much money does Monopoly Go! have? Does the Monopoly Man have a secret bank account in the Cayman Islands? How deep does that rabbit hole go?

Interestingly, this is probably one of the more effective instances of celebrity endorsements in these ads. Between the three of Chris Pratt, Keke Palmer, and Jason Momoa, they seem to be casting a pretty wide net.

But again, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. One app in particular, Royal Kingdom, has been going absolutely crazy with celebrities in their ads. Just since April, they’ve released ads that feature Shakira, Kevin Hart, LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Fergusen, Eric Stonestreet, and even former “The Big Bang Theory” actors, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki.

The strategy appears to be that if they just have enough celebrities in their ads, there will be at least one that appeals to every individual.

Playable Ads

Ironically, one of the places you’re most likely to see a mobile game ad is on another mobile game. Oftentimes with these games, ads will pop up at certain pauses in the gameplay. These are called interstitial ads, and they do a great job of using different forms of media. They are oftentimes static or video where you’re able to continue with your game after a certain amount of time. Some mobile game companies have developed playable ads where you’re able to sample the game before actually downloading it. It’s like getting a free sample at Costco. And they are very effective, resulting in conversion rates 20 times higher than banner ads.

What We Would Get Rid Of

Celebrity Endorsements for the Sake of Celebrity Endorsements

We’re not suggesting we would get rid of all celebrity endorsements. It’s obviously a time-honored advertising technique that has been used effectively for as long as there have been celebrities. However, a lot of those Royal Kingdom ads don’t actually make good use of the celebrities who are in the ads. There usually isn’t anything specific to the person giving the endorsement. You could take the script for the ad with Amy Poehler and give it to Jimmy Fallon, and vice versa, and nothing would feel improper. The celebrities in these instances are just bandages covering up the fact that the ad itself has very little substance.

There is one example among the Royal Kingdom ads that uses its endorsement perfectly.

If you didn’t get it, here’s the explanation. A while ago, LeBron James was photographed holding a book. The same book. Over an extended period of time. It became a running joke among basketball fans that James was just carrying the book around to look smart and only pretending to read it.

This is a deep cut, but the type of people who would get the joke are also the type who are more likely to be swayed by a LeBron James endorsement. This ad can stay just the way it is.

Anything Fake

We’d get rid of everything fake: the gameplay and reactions. People don’t like being deceived and while you may be able to get a few more downloads initially, they’ll quickly realize that the game they downloaded is nothing like the one in the ad they saw. This erodes trust in your consumer base, and they’re not likely to become repeat customers.

Or, we could combine fake gameplay, fake reactions, and celebrity endorsements, and get this ad featuring Antony Starr. (Just kidding we would never.)

What We Would Keep

Production Value & Animation

You can say a lot about mobile game ads, I mean we’re writing a whole blog about them, but you can’t say they’re cheap. It’s pretty clear that a lot of money went into the production of the aforementioned spots. Of course, money and resources don’t guarantee a touchdown, but they’ll get you to the goal line.

The Monopoly Go! ads, for example, clearly had great production value. The animation was incredibly high quality, and these productions must have included intricate set pieces to achieve the seamless melding of live-action actors with animated characters. That kind of effort and artistry will always stand out in advertising for the right reasons.

Playable Interstitial Ads

As mentioned previously, these are incredibly effective, and they also have the potential to be a fun experience for users. As long as the playable ads are representative of the actual games.

Why Change Anything?

Perhaps the important question to ask is why would we change anything about these ads? These companies are clearly doing very well, and if these are widely used tactics, then they must work.

For starters, a lot of these tactics involve deception, and there are plenty of ethical reasons not to trick potential customers (there are economical ones as well). Secondly, people dislike them, and that does count for something. Not just dislike. Loathe. There’s an entire subreddit dedicated to hating on mobile game ads that has 176 thousand members (we can’t say it’s name, but check it out if you want). And these mobile game companies might even be happy about this development. That’s more free advertising. But for most industries and most businesses, making people angry is not a reliable way to build a customer base.

Most of the brands we work with want to build loyalty among their customers to the point where they even become advocates for the brand. They don’t just use a product, but they love it so much that they recommend it to their friends. The point is that no one is recommending Hero Wars to their friends.

Have thoughts of your own about mobile game ads that keep working their way into your algorithm even though you’ve asked YouTube to block that advertiser? Or are you ready to start an interstitial ad campaign of your own? Let’s talk about it. We have snacks and coffee.