14 DAY TRIAL // What's the weirdest way you can think of to advertise the upcoming Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, the long awaited Blizzard made real time strategy title? Whatever the answer, the developers themselves will have probably beaten you with their new idea of putting Starcraft II on the side of the airplanes of Korea Air, the national flying service of the country, which has made the strategy title something of a national sport.
Jim Raynor, the Terran hero who is the main narrative focus in Wings of Liberty, will have his image wrapped on two planes in the Korea Air fleet according to special techniques. The two planes, a Boeing 747-400 and a 737-900, will appear on both domestic and international flights with their new coat of paint and film for a six-month period, which begins on June 24. Korean Air will also put character images from Starcraft II on four of its limousine buses.
Paul Sams, who is the Chief Operating Officer at Blizzard, stated when the initiative was announced that “We’re pleased to be partnering with Korean Air, Korea's leading airline, on this campaign. As we approach the global launch of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, this promotion represents a unique, large-scale opportunity to introduce the characters and style of the StarCraft universe to gamers throughout the world.”
Yong-won Suh, the executive vice president of Korean Air, added, “eSports is an established part of youth culture all around the world. We look forward to positioning ourselves as a global airline that appeals to the younger generation by operating airplanes wrapped with StarCraft II images and celebrating the launch of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.”
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is set to be launched worldwide on July 27 on the PC. Blizzard is planning two more episodes focusing on the Protoss and on the Zerg races.