Our team was asked to showcase how Adobe Acrobat’s tools help freelancers through the seemingly endless series of tasks they must complete to file taxes, and the frustration of feeling like you’re jumping hurdle after hurdle. It was then that we realized these layers of difficulty almost felt like levels in a video game.
Hey, quick question, how do you make tax season content look interesting? Yeah, we were stumped too. Tax season is stressful, dull, and filled with a long list of to-dos. But for those who use Acrobat, it doesn’t have to feel that way. Drawing on the humorous tone Acrobat uses to make their brand more accessible, we aimed to showcase how their tools can help freelancers tackle the seemingly endless tasks, making their lives more efficient and their time spent on anything other than taxes. Save to PDF, Merge Files, Scan Receipts—these don’t have to be daunting tasks.
Suddenly finding ourselves in a world of pixels and color, we transitioned to thinking of Acrobat’s individual tools as the weapons users select to fight their way through the minefield that is tax season and achieve tax nirvana (aka hopefully a refund). Made on a tight budget, our creatives choreographed and filmed the Free Lance “video game” before bringing in our talented friends in motion graphics to bring the game to life. The result is a realistic-feeling game UI that keeps viewers’ attention throughout one of the year’s drier topics.
The results? Our videos played a role in raising awareness of Acrobat tools in an engaging way, particularly on TikTok, where the initial video surpassed 1M views. The “flash animation” style and retro vibes resonated with audiences, reinforcing our goal of blending entertainment with education.
