2025
Mobile Premier League (MPL)
MPL US Spades
A performance-focused digital film created for MPL’s US market to highlight the ease and excitement of playing Spades on the app. Set inside an authentic American barbershop, the film features an AI-generated barber who casually explains how he wins real cash on MPL during his downtime between customers.
Performance Ad
AI
Overview
The film was built as a culturally grounded, relatable creative for US audiences.
The barbershop environment, character design and delivery style were chosen to resemble everyday social spaces where casual conversations happen. The barber speaks directly to camera, creating a sense of trust and familiarity, while gameplay inserts and supers reinforce MPL’s core offering.
What was the challenge or idea?
The idea was to merge a strong cultural archetype with a performance ad structure.
The challenge was ensuring the barber felt authentic to US audiences while also integrating gameplay clearly within a short runtime. Achieving natural expressions, realistic lighting and smooth delivery through AI required careful look-development.
The film also needed to balance character performance with gameplay clarity so that viewers immediately understood the value proposition while still enjoying the narrative tone.
What was the approach?
Built a consistent AI-generated Afro-American barber character with natural facial expressions and conversational delivery.
Designed the barbershop interior using US-specific visual cues to match cultural expectations.
Captured and integrated real Spades gameplay footage with clean, readable supers.
Constructed a high-retention edit pattern with direct address, quick cuts and impactful CTAs.
Delivered multiple formats for A/B testing, ensuring strong performance across short-form platforms.
Impact & Usage
The promo became one of MPL US’s top-performing Bingo Skill ads, delivering:
High CTR due to seamless creator-style presentation
Strong trust due to realism (audiences did not recognise it as AI)
Scalable, fast-turnaround production for multiple variations
Significant uplift in installs and withdrawals because of the lifestyle framing
This campaign also demonstrated how AI can produce consistent, creator-like performance ads at scale without compromising narrative quality.
The film was used extensively across user acquisition campaigns in the US.
Its direct, conversational opening resulted in strong retention in the first three seconds, which improved performance benchmarks across placements. The relatable character, combined with clean gameplay presentation, helped position MPL Spades as approachable and rewarding for new players.
The creative also served as a template for future AI-driven influencer content in the US market and demonstrated how culturally aligned AI characters can deliver high conversion without traditional production requirements.
Trivia
The barber’s appearance, lighting and gestures were refined through multiple AI passes to avoid synthetic artefacts.
The barbershop interior references real neighbourhood shops to maintain cultural accuracy.
Gameplay overlays were intentionally simplified for readability on mobile ad placements.
The final campaign delivered several high-performing cutdowns, including 20s, 15s and 12s variants.
MPL • Spades • US Market • AI-Generated Character • Performance Advertising • Mobile Gaming • Digital Storytelling • Gameplay Integration • High-Retention Edits • User Acquisition Creative
Want to create scalable, influencer-style performance ads using AI? Let’s build your next breakout campaign.
More Works
(RTP® — 02)
FAQ
01
What kind of stories do you work on?
02
I don’t have a clear brief, is that a problem?
03
Do you only do big productions?
04
How involved can I be in the process?
05
What if I want something experimental?
06
How do you charge for projects?
07
Do you travel for shoots?
08
Why the name Rotten Tree?
2025
Mobile Premier League (MPL)
MPL US Spades
A performance-focused digital film created for MPL’s US market to highlight the ease and excitement of playing Spades on the app. Set inside an authentic American barbershop, the film features an AI-generated barber who casually explains how he wins real cash on MPL during his downtime between customers.
Performance Ad
AI
Overview
The film was built as a culturally grounded, relatable creative for US audiences.
The barbershop environment, character design and delivery style were chosen to resemble everyday social spaces where casual conversations happen. The barber speaks directly to camera, creating a sense of trust and familiarity, while gameplay inserts and supers reinforce MPL’s core offering.
What was the challenge or idea?
The idea was to merge a strong cultural archetype with a performance ad structure.
The challenge was ensuring the barber felt authentic to US audiences while also integrating gameplay clearly within a short runtime. Achieving natural expressions, realistic lighting and smooth delivery through AI required careful look-development.
The film also needed to balance character performance with gameplay clarity so that viewers immediately understood the value proposition while still enjoying the narrative tone.
What was the approach?
Built a consistent AI-generated Afro-American barber character with natural facial expressions and conversational delivery.
Designed the barbershop interior using US-specific visual cues to match cultural expectations.
Captured and integrated real Spades gameplay footage with clean, readable supers.
Constructed a high-retention edit pattern with direct address, quick cuts and impactful CTAs.
Delivered multiple formats for A/B testing, ensuring strong performance across short-form platforms.
Impact & Usage
The promo became one of MPL US’s top-performing Bingo Skill ads, delivering:
High CTR due to seamless creator-style presentation
Strong trust due to realism (audiences did not recognise it as AI)
Scalable, fast-turnaround production for multiple variations
Significant uplift in installs and withdrawals because of the lifestyle framing
This campaign also demonstrated how AI can produce consistent, creator-like performance ads at scale without compromising narrative quality.
The film was used extensively across user acquisition campaigns in the US.
Its direct, conversational opening resulted in strong retention in the first three seconds, which improved performance benchmarks across placements. The relatable character, combined with clean gameplay presentation, helped position MPL Spades as approachable and rewarding for new players.
The creative also served as a template for future AI-driven influencer content in the US market and demonstrated how culturally aligned AI characters can deliver high conversion without traditional production requirements.
Trivia
The barber’s appearance, lighting and gestures were refined through multiple AI passes to avoid synthetic artefacts.
The barbershop interior references real neighbourhood shops to maintain cultural accuracy.
Gameplay overlays were intentionally simplified for readability on mobile ad placements.
The final campaign delivered several high-performing cutdowns, including 20s, 15s and 12s variants.
MPL • Spades • US Market • AI-Generated Character • Performance Advertising • Mobile Gaming • Digital Storytelling • Gameplay Integration • High-Retention Edits • User Acquisition Creative
Want to create scalable, influencer-style performance ads using AI? Let’s build your next breakout campaign.
More Works
(RTP® — 02)
FAQ
01
What kind of stories do you work on?
02
I don’t have a clear brief, is that a problem?
03
Do you only do big productions?
04
How involved can I be in the process?
05
What if I want something experimental?
06
How do you charge for projects?
07
Do you travel for shoots?
08
Why the name Rotten Tree?
2025
Mobile Premier League (MPL)
MPL US Spades
A performance-focused digital film created for MPL’s US market to highlight the ease and excitement of playing Spades on the app. Set inside an authentic American barbershop, the film features an AI-generated barber who casually explains how he wins real cash on MPL during his downtime between customers.
Performance Ad
AI
Overview
The film was built as a culturally grounded, relatable creative for US audiences.
The barbershop environment, character design and delivery style were chosen to resemble everyday social spaces where casual conversations happen. The barber speaks directly to camera, creating a sense of trust and familiarity, while gameplay inserts and supers reinforce MPL’s core offering.
What was the challenge or idea?
The idea was to merge a strong cultural archetype with a performance ad structure.
The challenge was ensuring the barber felt authentic to US audiences while also integrating gameplay clearly within a short runtime. Achieving natural expressions, realistic lighting and smooth delivery through AI required careful look-development.
The film also needed to balance character performance with gameplay clarity so that viewers immediately understood the value proposition while still enjoying the narrative tone.
What was the approach?
Built a consistent AI-generated Afro-American barber character with natural facial expressions and conversational delivery.
Designed the barbershop interior using US-specific visual cues to match cultural expectations.
Captured and integrated real Spades gameplay footage with clean, readable supers.
Constructed a high-retention edit pattern with direct address, quick cuts and impactful CTAs.
Delivered multiple formats for A/B testing, ensuring strong performance across short-form platforms.
Impact & Usage
The promo became one of MPL US’s top-performing Bingo Skill ads, delivering:
High CTR due to seamless creator-style presentation
Strong trust due to realism (audiences did not recognise it as AI)
Scalable, fast-turnaround production for multiple variations
Significant uplift in installs and withdrawals because of the lifestyle framing
This campaign also demonstrated how AI can produce consistent, creator-like performance ads at scale without compromising narrative quality.
The film was used extensively across user acquisition campaigns in the US.
Its direct, conversational opening resulted in strong retention in the first three seconds, which improved performance benchmarks across placements. The relatable character, combined with clean gameplay presentation, helped position MPL Spades as approachable and rewarding for new players.
The creative also served as a template for future AI-driven influencer content in the US market and demonstrated how culturally aligned AI characters can deliver high conversion without traditional production requirements.
Trivia
The barber’s appearance, lighting and gestures were refined through multiple AI passes to avoid synthetic artefacts.
The barbershop interior references real neighbourhood shops to maintain cultural accuracy.
Gameplay overlays were intentionally simplified for readability on mobile ad placements.
The final campaign delivered several high-performing cutdowns, including 20s, 15s and 12s variants.
MPL • Spades • US Market • AI-Generated Character • Performance Advertising • Mobile Gaming • Digital Storytelling • Gameplay Integration • High-Retention Edits • User Acquisition Creative
Want to create scalable, influencer-style performance ads using AI? Let’s build your next breakout campaign.
More Works
(RTP® — 02)
FAQ
What kind of stories do you work on?
I don’t have a clear brief, is that a problem?
Do you only do big productions?
How involved can I be in the process?
What if I want something experimental?
How do you charge for projects?
Do you travel for shoots?
Why the name Rotten Tree?