Our primary objective for the campaign was to bridge blockbuster Hollywood entertainment with gaming culture to drive genuine awareness for the release of Crime 101. Knowing that traditional movie marketing often struggles to hold the attention of Gen Z and millennial gamers, we set out to create an unexpected cultural collision. We achieved this by doing something 100 Thieves had never done in their history: we completely altered their core identity, changing their name and logo to "101 Thieves."
We anchored the campaign to three core goals:
Spark Viral Curiosity: We used this unprecedented brand hijack and Hemsworth’s sudden crossover into the gaming space to get people talking, guessing, and paying attention across X, YouTube, and Twitch before they even realized they were engaging with a movie promotion.
Drive Intent-to-View: Translate the high-stakes, tactical thrills of the Crime 101 narrative into a must-see event for a notoriously ad-averse demographic.
Keep it Authentic: Changing a beloved brand’s logo and identity requires an immense level of trust and alignment. Instead of a standard sponsored stream, Hemsworth actively participated in the crossover alongside the brand, making the takeover feel like an event the community cared about rather than a forced ad.
Ultimately, our objective was to pull off a heist of our own: getting a highly skeptical audience to stop scrolling, lean in, and actively care about a movie campaign.
To get gamers excited about Crime 101, we had to face a simple truth: this audience usually ignores traditional movie ads. Paying a streamer to watch a trailer wasn't going to cut it. We needed to do something that felt genuinely entertaining.
Our strategy was to blur the lines between the movie and the gaming world by temporarily "hijacking" the identity of 100 Thieves - one of the biggest lifestyle brands in gaming.
We brought in Chris Hemsworth not just to promote the movie, but to play the mastermind behind the takeover. By suddenly hijacking the brand and turning it into "101 Thieves," we caught the community off guard and gave them a reason to pay attention. Instead of scrolling past another ad, fans were leaning in, genuinely curious about what was going on. It built real, organic hype as everyone waited to see what would happen next, perfectly capturing the heist vibe of the film.
Challenges We Overcame
Pulling this off required walking a delicate tightrope. We had to carefully balance the studio's marketing goals, protect the 100 Thieves brand, and keep everything authentic for a highly critical gaming community—all while making sure Chris and his team felt completely comfortable with the creative direction.
The biggest logistical hurdle, however, was scheduling. Working around a major movie star's calendar meant we needed maximum flexibility. We had to design the core campaign to be a massive success even if Chris couldn't make it to the compound in person. It was a high-wire act: we built a rock-solid campaign foundation that worked no matter what, but engineered it with the ability to hit absolute home-run status if all the real-world logistics fell into place. Fortunately, they did.
Execution
We rolled out the campaign in three steps:
Step 1: The Infiltration Overnight, without any warning, 100 Thieves' social accounts (all of them), website, and their physical building changed their logos to "101 Thieves."
Step 2: The Reveal 100 Thieves Founder Matt "Nadeshot" Haag posted what looked like a standard gameplay video. He talked about how the organization needed a change and some fresh energy, announcing he had finally found the right guy: "Chris... Welcome to 100 Thieves." The camera then cut to Chris Hemsworth, who simply replied, "Thanks Nadeshot, but I think you mean 101 Thieves."
Step 3: The Culmination To bring everything together, we announced that Hemsworth was actually heading to the 100 Thieves HQ to stream live with Nadeshot. By doing this, we turned the digital takeover into a real-world event by inviting the community to show up. The first 101 fans got a massive reward: the chance to see Hemsworth in person, score an exclusive custom T-shirt featuring the "101 Thieves" logo, and a custom ticket to an exclusive Crime 101 premiere at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles. It was the perfect payoff, bridging the gap between internet hype and real-world action.
The "101 Thieves" campaign successfully turned an ad-averse audience into active participants, driving massive digital reach and overwhelmingly positive sentiment.
Massive Digital Footprint: The stunt drove over 28 million organic impressions across all platforms. Rather than skipping past the promotion, the community leaned in, generating massive engagement and organic chatter across social.
Earned Media Impact: The unexpected pairing of Chris Hemsworth and the 100 Thieves brand sparked organic coverage across major gaming culture blogs, successfully bridging the gap between mainstream Hollywood and the core gaming community.
Unprecedented Fan Sentiment: The community immediately recognized and respected the authenticity of the stunt. Comment sections across platforms proved that treating gamers with an entertaining, authentic narrative yields high praise:
"GENERATIONAL COLLAB RIGHT HERE"
"Apparel and marketing GENIUS"
"This has got to be the coolest stream to ever happen"
"W AD"
"Fucking pumped to watch this. This is gonna be amazing"
"This is a sick Collab!!!"
Ultimately, we didn't just place an ad in front of the gaming community. We gave them a memorable experience that successfully drove massive, organic awareness and genuine excitement for Crime 101.
