Interest
Granblue Fantasy Game Spends 300 Million Yen on Giant Newspaper Ad
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Cygames' Granblue Fantasy smartphone game celebrated its third anniversary on Friday. To mark the occasion, the Friday issue of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper featured a gigantic ad for the game. Twitter users posted images of the ad.
【グランブルーファンタジー】【3周年カウントダウン】ありがとう3周年!これからもグランブルーファンタジーをよろしくお願いします! #グラブル pic.twitter.com/9z6AZm9GIJ
— グランブルーファンタジー (@granbluefantasy) March 9, 2017
今日の朝日新聞にグラブルの馬鹿でかい広告入っててびびった
— ひなさきあき (@aki_hinasaki) March 9, 2017
3周年おめでとう…!!#グラブル3周年 pic.twitter.com/fN2j83CFdU
グラブルの新聞広告すごくない? pic.twitter.com/lvRadckdNs
— noko (@harapekomickey) March 9, 2017
A smartphone game purchasing an ad that is the length of four newspaper pages is surprising. But when people turned over the over-sized page, they got another shock. The ad is double-sided.
@aki_hinasaki こんな伸びると思わなかったので裏面も置いておきますね…!#グラブル3周年 pic.twitter.com/U5PbKvADCt
— ひなさきあき (@aki_hinasaki) March 9, 2017
職場の新聞にグランブルーファンタジーの広告が入ってたから見てたんだけど、この一年のグラブルの物語の経緯みたいなのが纏められてて金掛かってんなぁと思いつつも力の入れ様に素直に感心した pic.twitter.com/8uTn7fRvXY
— 真(まこつ)@ナナシス3rd昼夜 (@Makotsu54) March 9, 2017
Internet users in Japan used the advertising fees listed on Asahi Shimbun's official website to estimate that the ad cost Cygames more than 300 million yen (about US$2.6 million). A full-page ad in the national version of the newspaper costs 39,855,000 yen (US$347,000). Because the ad is the length of four regular pages and double-sided, the ad may have cost the game's producers 318,840,000 yen (US$2.8 million) to publish it in the newspaper.
While the game's high-end ad is unexpected, it is less surprising when taking into account some of the game's other third anniversary celebrations. The game is offering a lottery campaign with the grand prize winner receiving 10 million yen (US$87,000) in cash. The grand prize winner can also choose from a prize catalog of gifts worth that much. The options include a season pass to a traditional Japanese inn, a cabin cruiser, and a solid gold bar wrapped in a tube-shaped fish product. The lottery will have a total of 52,354 winners.
The game launched a major update on Friday that features powerful characters. The advance ticket lottery period for the "Granblue Fantasy Orchestra - Sora no Kanade" concert opened on Friday. The game's official website also announced the details of its in-game anniversary campaign, which includes special login bonuses and gacha sets.
The television anime adaptation of the smartphone role-playing game will premiere on April 1.
[Via Nijimen]
