Rock Band to interrupt Champions League final

Tim Ingham May 21 2008, 3:57pm

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Microsoft’s community-driven Xbox 360 ad to get its TV premiere tonight

A Rock Band TV ad starring Xbox 360 community members is to be premiered tonight during ITV’s Champions League final coverage – kicking off a sustained marketing campaign for the game.

The commercial was put together by renowned agency McCann Erickson, and stars around 350 Xbox gamers, as well as Xbox Bebo and MySpace fans.

The crowd was invited the consumers to London club The Fridge on May 7th and 8th, and was filmed ‘rocking out’ with EA’s game.

As the cameras rolled, the assembled crowd graced the stage in groups, each having their turn to play to the audience along to David Bowie’s Suffragette City.

The action was directed by multi-award winning Swedish director, Ulf Johannson of Smith and Jones Films – the man behind Mastercard’s Commentators ad.

The 30-second version of the commercial will feature during the match tonight, which kicks off at 7.45pm (UK time). The full 90-second ad can be viewed on Xbox.com from midnight.

Both clips will continue to air on national TV during ‘wide reaching programmes’ according to Microsoft.

Rock Band is released exclusivley for Xbox 360 this Friday. A PS3 and Wii version will follow later in the year.

The commercial will particularly feature during TV coverage of Euro 2008.

PICTURE: Rock Band/Xbox 360 ad