Quick Answer
To launch EA SPORTS FC 27 globally on September 25, EA SPORTS FC took over Times Square with a large-format billboard stunt called “Everyone’s Missing.” The activation brought together football stars, musicians, entertainment figures and well-known fictional characters in one image to support the wider “Everyone’s Playing” campaign and show that the game is designed for a broad cultural audience.
Launch Bigger With Times Square OOH Advertising
When a brand wants to feel bigger than its category, outdoor advertising can turn that ambition into a highly visible public moment. Local OOH can help brands plan billboard, digital, transit and experiential campaigns that connect with audiences through culture, sport and entertainment.
From major city takeovers to launch-focused digital placements, the right OOH strategy can help a campaign feel immediate, cinematic and impossible to ignore.
Ready to create a standout outdoor campaign? Talk to Local OOH.
EA SPORTS FC 27 Turns Times Square Into a Digital Out-of-Home Launch Moment
To mark the global launch of EA SPORTS FC 27 on September 25, EA SPORTS FC took over billboards in Times Square, assembling some of the world’s most recognizable personalities in one high-impact OOH stunt.
The activation centered on a creative execution called “Everyone’s Missing”, which imagined major public figures disappearing from the individual billboards where audiences would normally expect to see them, only to reappear together in one frame while playing FC 27.
The result was a traffic-stopping visual built for one of the most competitive advertising environments in the world.
By taking over a landmark media setting like Times Square, the campaign gave the game’s global launch the kind of scale and visibility that matched its ambition.
A Creative DOOH Campaign Built Around “Everyone’s Missing”
The central image featured Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Lewis Hamilton, Ted Lasso, Alyssa Thompson and Lewis Capaldi, all brought together as if they had stepped away from their usual media worlds to play FC 27.
The creative also included characters from The Sims, Star Wars and Disney, while even The Oregon Duck made an appearance. That wide mix of personalities and fictional worlds helped reinforce the campaign idea that the game reaches audiences far beyond traditional football fans.
Instead of relying only on athletes, EA SPORTS FC used the billboard to communicate cultural breadth. The message was simple: this is a game for everyone.
“Everyone’s Playing” Comes to Life Through OOH Media
The Times Square stunt forms part of FC 27’s global “Everyone’s Playing” campaign, which is designed to show that football culture and EA SPORTS FC now reach far beyond the sport’s traditional core audience.
By bringing together talent from sport, music, entertainment and gaming, the campaign translates that idea into something viewers can understand instantly. It is not just telling people that the game is broad; it is visualizing that breadth in one shared scene.
This matters in OOH because public advertising needs to communicate fast. One image with multiple recognizable faces can do more work than a longer written explanation.
The creative was captured by photographer Gabriel Moses, helping the activation feel editorial, contemporary and culturally elevated rather than simply commercial.
Why Times Square Digital Billboards Strengthen the Campaign
Times Square is one of the world’s most visible stages for brand spectacle, and that makes it especially effective for a launch campaign built around the idea of cultural scale.
The takeover ran from 12–1pm ET on September 25, concentrating attention into a specific event window and turning the display into a moment rather than just an ongoing placement.
This is an important OOH lesson: when a campaign has a strong visual hook, pairing it with a famous location and a defined activation time can make the creative feel more newsworthy and more shareable.
The surrounding digital screens also strengthened the sense that FC 27 was dominating the environment, not just occupying a single media slot.
Uncommon New York Uses Outdoor Advertising to Expand the Football Audience
The activation was created by Uncommon New York as part of a broader effort to communicate the game’s inclusivity.
According to Nils Leonard, co-founder at Uncommon Creative Studio, if a game is for everyone, then the campaign has to represent everyone too. That thinking explains why the billboard reaches beyond footballers and includes people and characters from multiple cultural spheres.
An EA SPORTS spokesperson also emphasized that FC 27 is for long-time players as well as people picking up a controller for the first time. In that sense, the billboard does more than advertise a game. It positions the product as a meeting point for different kinds of fans.
Large-Format Billboard Advertising Makes the Creative Easy to Read
One reason the billboard succeeds is that the concept is easy to grasp quickly. Audiences understand that the personalities shown together would normally be found in very different contexts. Seeing them united by FC 27 is the surprise.
That kind of instant readability is essential in outdoor advertising. The audience may only have a few seconds, so the creative has to land immediately.
The billboard also benefits from contrast: familiar faces in an unfamiliar shared situation. That makes the image visually sticky and encourages people to look longer.
For entertainment, gaming and lifestyle brands, it is a useful example of how casting and composition alone can carry a major campaign idea.
The Hero Film Extends the OOH Marketing Beyond Times Square
The Times Square takeover is accompanied by a hero launch film directed by Vedran Rupic, which moves between football stars and wider cultural icons to reinforce the same core message.
That cross-channel support matters because it allows the billboard to function as the public headline while film and digital content carry the narrative further.
Together, the elements create a campaign ecosystem where OOH delivers spectacle and broad visibility, while moving-image content expands the world and energy around the launch.
What This OOH Case Study Shows About Modern Outdoor Advertising
- Use OOH to dramatize scale. Major launches benefit from public formats that can match the size of the idea.
- Make inclusivity visible. If a campaign says it is for everyone, the casting and composition should prove it.
- Choose locations with symbolic power. Times Square adds cultural weight and instant recognizability.
- Keep the concept easy to read. A billboard works best when the surprise or story is understood immediately.
- Support OOH with other channels. Film, digital and social content can extend the impact of a large public activation.
Final Reflection: EA SPORTS FC 27 Turns DOOH Advertising Into a Cultural Event
EA SPORTS FC 27’s Times Square takeover shows how a billboard activation can do more than announce a release date. It can turn a game launch into a cultural event.
By uniting football stars, musicians, fictional characters and entertainment icons under one roof of public media, the campaign makes the promise of “Everyone’s Playing” feel tangible.
For brands looking to create launch moments with real public presence, this campaign offers a clear lesson: when the idea is big enough, OOH can become the stage that makes it feel real.
Summary
EA SPORTS FC 27 marked its launch with a Times Square takeover in New York City, running from 12–1pm ET on September 25. The centerpiece creative, photographed by Gabriel Moses and created by Uncommon New York, imagined well-known personalities disappearing from the billboards where audiences would usually expect to see them, then reappearing together while playing FC 27. Featuring names such as Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Lewis Hamilton, Ted Lasso, Alyssa Thompson and Lewis Capaldi, plus characters from The Sims, Star Wars and Disney, the work translated the campaign idea “Everyone’s Playing” into a large-scale OOH spectacle.
Sources
Campaign information and visuals were supplied for this article. No independently verified campaign performance data was supplied.
FAQs
What is the EA SPORTS FC 27 “Everyone’s Missing” billboard?
It is a Times Square billboard takeover for the global launch of EA SPORTS FC 27, bringing together stars and characters from football, entertainment and gaming in one large-format image.
Where did the activation appear?
The creative took over Times Square screens in New York City from 12–1pm ET on September 25.
Who created the campaign?
The activation was created by Uncommon New York as part of EA SPORTS FC 27’s global “Everyone’s Playing” campaign.
Why does the campaign work in OOH?
It uses instantly recognizable talent, a clear inclusive idea and one of the world’s most visible media environments to create fast public impact.
How can brands create similar launch takeovers?
Brands can combine bold casting, iconic locations and clear storytelling. Local OOH can help identify the right large-format, digital and event-based media opportunities.
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