Animal Crossing series, took the gaming world by storm ever since it released on Nintendo Switch last year. Considering that people couldn't head out much owing to the global health pandemic, the social simulation game provided convenient escapism as players explored islands and interacted with each other, and formed a community.
Considering its huge fanbase, naturally many brands tried to rope in special products and announcements for their own promotion. These brands included fashion labels like Givenchy and Valentino, along with fast-food chain KFC, fellow Nintendo franchise Super Mario Bros, and many others. If that wasn't all, even Joe Biden's presidential campaign made its way into the game!
Givenchy Beauty
Classic Parfums Givenchy products like Le Rouge lipsticks, Phenomen'Eyes Lines, and Prisme Libre powders made their way into Animal Crossing as a part of the characters' makeup looks. Heart and lip-shaped tattoos with the company logo were also made available.
Even though labels like Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton had already debuted on the game, Givenchy became the first luxury fashion house to offer cosmetic and makeup options for the players' virtual avatars.
Super Mario Bros
A Super Mario Bros and Animal Crossings Mario-themed furniture, and fashion accessories could be availed at Nook Shopping.
The items included murals of iconic levels from the game, Princess Peach, Mario, and Luigi's outfits and shoes, mushrooms, and warp pipes. The pipes were a pretty useful investment as they could allow warping from one pipe to another.
Sandy Liang
Sandy Liang hosted a virtual pop-up store on the game around April. The New York-based fashion designer's reputed fleece jackets were also available for free. However, players were also encouraged to donate to Give Directly, a nonprofit that works towards the betterment of impoverished families in East Africa.
Announcing the store on an Instagram post with a virtual lookbook, Liang's post added that the virtual lookbook shoot 'was oddly just as time-consuming as a real lookbook shoot'.
Detroit Lions (NFL)
Last year in May, Detroit Lions too to Animal Crossings to announce their 2020 schedule making it the first NFL team so far to collaborate with the game. The Lions' shirts and caps were also available as unlockable features.
As each week's matches were touched upon, some hilarious puns were also cracked, referencing several NFL players. For instance, the character Fuchsia tells a player, 'Want to hear a joke that Roary just told me? Why did the mountain get sunburnt? Because you can't Tannehill!' Roary is the team's official mascot while Ryan Tannehill plays as a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans.
Valentino
Hats. Puffer jackets. Fluorescent dresses. Such merchandise by high-end luxury fashion label Valentino was available in the form of 20 custom looks that could be availed with special codes.
All of these dresses and apparel were directly based on Valentino's Paris Fashion Week 2020 collections while the entire campaign on Animal Crossings was conceptualized by photographer and visual artist Kara Chung. The company's iconic 'VLTN' logo makes its appearance on a few hats and shirts adding an extra edge to the virtual characters.
Klarna
When Klarna ed forces with influencer Micah 'Noodles' Mahinay, it became evident that Animal Crossings is trying its best to rope in Gen-Z shoppers. The payments and shopping platform Klarna created a pop-up store for a limited period that featured Mahinay's Klarna wishlist. This list, in this process, included products from reputed brands like The North Face, Farfetch, and so on.
As was the case with the Valentino campaign, Kara Chung was roped in to design the virtual variants of these fashion products.
Gillette Venus
Venus, the division of Gillette for women, launched a Skinclusive Summer Line for women on Animal Crossing. This did not include their regular products like razors but instead featured unique 'skins' to celebrate diversity. Fashion Line designed for players who want to replicate the look of their IRL skin within the game.'
In this manner, Gillette Venus and Animal Crossing did attempt to subvert the conventional social standards of female beauty.
Marc Jacobs
Designer Marc Jacobs released six customized avatars for the New Horizons fashion store last May, that featured apparel like striped sweaters and long-sleeved gowns.
The designer's Instagram publically announced the codes, tagging Animal Crossing Fashion Archive, a one-stop destination on Instagram to curate all high-fashion looks on the Animal Crossing games.
KFC
A small KFC restaurant can be found on an island of its own, that doesn't just feature the fast-food franchise's classic fried chicken buckets but also a buffet for a virtual dining experience. Colonel Sanders himself shows up at times although his appearances can be pretty unpredictable.
In fact, one of the challenges offered in the game is to locate Sanders and avail a special code. By taking a screenshot of this code, anyone can get a free chicken bucket at any KFC restaurant in the Philippines.
Joe Biden Presidential Campaign
Last election season, incumbent President Joe Biden's campaign team partnered with Animal Crossings: New Horizons to helm an entire island dedicated to Biden who was then contesting as the official Democrat candidate. The island offered guidelines and facts on the candidate as well as the election process.
The island, known as Biden HQ, contained a field office and a polling station. Virtual avatars of Joe Biden and also current-Vice President Kamala Harris appeared roaming around the island, and even getting photos clicked with players.