​Video games are a natural partner for TV brands, working in game footage alongside television action stars to promote new gameplay, new settings and often familiar characters.

But branded content on a comedy channel isn’t always easy - it has to be seamless, naturally connected and actually funny.

Recently, Comedy Central took on the challenge and aired the branded tie-in “The Climb,” a trailer for “Rise of the Tomb Raider.” It’s an extension of the network’s partnership with video game creators that also included a Drunk History extra for “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.”

The Broad City spot (below) stars Abbi and Ilana envisioning themselves as Lara Croft while scaling a mountain. The video switches back and forth between their perspective and that of Croft’s in the game, shifting points of view as they make the climb.

Viacom says this partnership was a natural one, not only because the characters are gamers themselves, but so is a large part of their audience.

“Fans of Broad City know that the girls often play with fantasy versus reality in the show. Abbi and Ilana are experts in day dreaming,” said Beth Trentacoste, VP/creative director at Comedy Central, Viacom Velocity. “We decided to extend this idea into original branded content for Xbox’s ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider.’ Just like Lara, they are women versus wild.”

The creative was developed by the Viacom Velocity Comedy Central branded content team, working with Xbox, Crystal Dynamics, Empower Media and The Story Lab, as well as Abbi and Ilana themselves.

“Our goal was to build custom content with a partner that demonstrated Lara Croft’s toughness,” said Gustavo Alvarado, senior marcom manager at Microsoft/Xbox. “Abbi and Ilana do that brilliantly through their unique style of humor and that’s why they were a natural fit.”

Abbi and Ilana were shot with practical elements that was then built to match gameplay footage of Lara Croft, adding elements to match the weather and climbing conditions. The end result is a combination of gameplay footage, practical elements, green screen and VFX.

Trentacoste adds that “as strong female leads they represent ‘Tomb Raider’s’ evolution of the Lara Croft character. Most importantly, we feel this is content that Broad City fans will love because it is connected to the DNA of the show.”

Comedy Central followed similar guidelines for a branded piece with Drunk History this fall, featuring the show’s host and a guest playing Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.”

The network culled through the show’s narrators to find someone familiar with the gamer audience and found the funny in Steve Berg, who played the new game with Drunk History host Derek Waters.

The video (below) stars Berg and Waters playing the game after drinking a bottle of whiskey, which resulted in a new drinking game and some interesting gameplay, all the while directly connecting to the premise of Drunk History as well.

“Integrating into comedy shows is harder for branded content because we need to ensure we don’t impact the laughs,” said Chris Ficarra, senior VP of integrated marketing at Comedy Central, Viacom Velocity.“Our fans are savvy, they’re open to advertising but the messaging has to entertain them.”

This particular release of the Ubisoft game’s franchise takes place in Victorian London, so gamers come across historical figures including Charles Darwin and Alexander Graham Bell - a figure who was discussed in a recent Drunk History episode.

“Our fans are gamers, they love comedic content and they want to be the first to share it. We use those insights to fuel our ideas and it’s paying off,” said Ficarra.

[Image courtesy of Comedy Central]

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