For generations, TV and film video game adaptations have fallen short of fan expectations, creating a unique challenge for The Last of Us – but HBO had both the creative and strategy to break the curse, win over the fandom and reach broad audiences.

HBO needed to craft an integrated 360° global campaign designed to court the existing fanbase, spark interest among broad entertainment enthusiasts, and ultimately drive tune-in for The Last of Us.

With its creative materials, HBO needed to speak to the diehard video game audience while appealing to broad entertainment enthusiasts. Establishing reverence to the source material through early content drops and partnerships with the game studios and creator, HBO leaned into a famous line from the IP that also opened the world and the characters’ emotional journey up to newcomers, “When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light.” With the promise of HBO’s premium storytelling and award-winning creative team, a multisensory campaign invoked the duality of human nature, survival and hope through the lens of heroes Joel and Ellie.

HBO sought to create a global, event-level campaign – its biggest of 2023 – that established The Last of Us as a must-see franchise and television’s next cultural phenomenon.

The network developed and deployed visceral, iconic, cohesive campaign creative, media, and activations, all filtered through the creative positioning, “When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light,” a quote that speaks to the series’ themes and its characters’ journey.

Built in partnership with PlayStation and Naughty Dog to establish credibility with fans of the IP, the campaign was designed to initially turn superfans of the game into evangelists, fueling a series-specific fandom early on, before expanding to appeal to broad, global audiences at premiere and throughout the season.

By leveraging the HBO/Max brands’ global social, digital, and streaming ecosystem alongside series, partner, and talent social accounts, each beat was buoyed by a 175M-follower footprint, driving awareness, viewership, and engagement.

Overall, HBO’s global campaign spanned 200+ territories and leveraged owned, earned, paid, traditional, digital, social, experiential, and influencer tactics, with each phase, beat, and piece of content designed to immerse new and existing fans deeper in the epic world of The Last of Us.

The campaign began with asset drops tied to TLOU Day ‘21 and ’22 as well as Summer Games Fest ‘22, building trust with the core fandom. The spread continued globally at Brazil Comic-Con, with the trailer premiere and an in-world experience that laid the creative blueprint for immersive experiences around the world. Continuing into premiere, HBO captured superfans and broad global audiences with influencer premiums sent to key figures in gaming and entertainment communities, an onslaught of custom content across digital, social, and outdoor, augmented reality filters, a chart-topping podcast and music playlist, and global activations in Italy, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, Spain and more.

Ultimately, HBO’s The Last of Us campaign won over both new and existing fans, driving nearly 40M total viewers to its premiere episode, and growing into a global phenomenon throughout the season. Domestic viewership doubled by finale and the series became the most watched show in the history of HBO Max in Europe and Latin America. Global activations such as the LA Premiere generated 9.5M organic impressions and screenings in Italy drove 17M organic social impressions.

The series’ owned social channels grew to over 2M+ followers and accumulated 408M video views. Week after week, The Last of Us dominated social, maintaining its place as the No. 1 most-social drama series across all TV in-season, driving 357 billion global impressions and 7.8 million global social posts, spurring fan-made content including memes and artwork, and driving 1.6M global streams to the official Spotify playlist.