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Ad of the Day: Ominous Diablo IV billboard looks ‘hellish’ as smog engulfs New York

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By Amy Houston, Senior Reporter

June 9, 2023 | 2 min read

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has engulfed the city and air pollution is at an all-time high.

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Diablo IV billboard / Nick Newman

To promote the release of video game Diablo IV, Activision Blizzard has been teasing the highly anticipated drop with demonic shakes, live-action shorts and billboards worldwide.

Amid the murals and digital activations, one out-of-home push has caught the attention for its poignant aesthetic. Nestled among two buildings, a digital billboard that reads ‘Welcome To Hell, New York’ has been surrounded by thick yellowish-orange smog.

Beaming across the city, the ominous character looms over locals who are trying to deal with the environmental crisis. The image, which has been making the round on social media, is a complete accident of course but it does everything that a well-executed creative billboard needs to.

On Twitter, Activision’s chief creative officer and executive vice president of corporate affairs Lulu Cheng Meservey, said: “I would like to clarify that Blizzard has no affiliation or partnership with the wildfires in Canada. In fact, we are firmly against wildfires and condemn them in the strongest terms.”

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