#codnapped

For a time, the advertisements for Call of Duty DLC packs placed emphasis on these fictional organizations which would help you get your CoD fix.

For the "Black Ops" subseries, this was showcased with the appearance of the Replacer, portrayed by actor Peter Stormare. As his title implies, he is an agent from the "replacement business" who would replace players in their daily lives to ensure said players could enjoy themselves with the latest DLC content without interruption. He was often shown to have his hands full, often juggling tasks he seemed to have little to no experience in. There were even advertisements where he was seen accompanied by a second Replacer (portrayed by J.B. Smoove) because he just couldn't do his job alone after the first BO2 pack's release. There is also a third Replacer with the given name of Arnold who appears in the Vengeance DLC gameplay trailer, though his actor is unidentified and the scene with the Replacers is shorter than the previous two trailers before it. Stormare's Replacer became quite popular, and was brought into the games proper when he was made playable for BO4's Blackout mode. He also ended up getting a snazzy green and pink alternate "Liquidator" outfit later down the line.

Similarly, for Call of Duty: Ghosts, there was the "CODnapper", portrayed by Stephen Graham. He and his team took a more forward approach to the whole thing, staging a kidnapping of players while they're stuck doing some mundane task like attending a business meeting or shopping with the family. They would then take these players to an unmarked location with Ghosts on standby, with comfy seats and yummy snacks on hand to provide you as much CoD time as you feel you need before returning you to your loved ones. The CODnapper's team does it this way because they know that some players just can't say no to some responsibilities, so players will hire them to cause a scene that will make said players seem sympathetic to those around them while they sneak off to play CoD. The CODnapper and his team only appeared in the trailer for the first Ghosts DLC, Onslaught, so while he's not as prevalent as the Replacer, he fills a similar role to his Treyarch backed counterpart.

Dan Milligan's latest storyboard shows the conception of 'CODnapped'; a trailer for Call of Duty's latest addition to their evergrowing list of games. The trailer follows a spokesperson describing the process of being CODnapped. No mention of if this is a real thing or not. I wish it was.

So, people are upset (yet again, but justifiably so) about Call of Duty's new Youtube video. If you haven't seen this ad, I'll be brief. A series of young men are shown being generally bored with their lives. So essentially, this guy and his crack team of military personnel (cue Dark Knight rip-off) are going to CODnap you and take you to a nice warehouse. There, you'll sit on comfy sofas, play Call of Duty while waiters feed you nice snacks. Of course, many were offended that the 'targets' were only young mostly Caucasian men ages 18-35 and not say, women. Also, it makes the idea that men hate their normal lives such as shopping, listening about clothes and going to job meetings.

Let's step back for a moment and forget about target demographics. The act we're talking about is being kidnapped. Kidnapped. The act of taking someone against their will, from their lives, blindfolding them, taking them to an undisclosed location, cutting off any unauthorized communication between loved ones and showing it's nothing but a grand ol' time. Based on this commercial alone, one would get the impression “Oh boy! Getting Kidnapped is nothing but a barrel full of monkeys”. Never mind the clear mental and physical trauma one undergoes on being a victim. Even if, under the best of circumstances the kidnappers are being as nice as possible and allowing you to just sit on a comfy chair and play COD all day long, you are still being held against your will. This commercial comes under the assumption that you want to be taken away from your life, which you may or may not have spent all your childhood trying to create for yourself, being blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location and have little to no contact with your loved ones. Slightly worse scenarios in this situation involve having your pinky chopped off and mailed to a loved one and you being bargained for ransom money. Even Director Michael Bay (the one Activision was accused of copying his style) depicted kidnapping as a horrifyingly brutal and dark experience for the victim, in the movie Pain and Gain.

Now, I understand this is a fantasy and not meant to be taken seriously (thought if COD somehow hired an actual helicopter and not use a green screen effect for that bit, I will come ‘this’ close to laughing myself to death). But, if Call of Duty actually made this commercial on the set basis on offending people and getting additional tweets and social media jabs, then they are evil geniuses.