The Race
Open the game- Brand
- Interparfums
- Year
- 2022
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Fashion & Beauty
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Merci-Michel
Objective
Interparfums needed to launch Montblanc Legend Red, a men's fragrance, with something that held attention longer than a banner or a spot could. A race fit the brief as a metaphor for the scent's speed and edge, played out in red light and neon. The game also had to work as a physical draw in stores, giving retail staff an attraction to gather shoppers around at the fragrance counter.
Solution
Players drop into a car on a neon-streaked night track and steer with just two inputs: left or right. Stay glued to the center line and a boost meter climbs; drift off it and the meter resets instantly, so the entire skill of a run is threading that line while speed builds. The race plays fullscreen in the browser, on desktop or on a phone turned landscape, and each lap ends with a time clocked to the hundredth of a second and posted to an online leaderboard, pulling players back for another run at a faster line. At retail installations, a shopper's phone could also be paired to the desktop cabinet with a secret controller code, turning it into a handheld gamepad for the in-store version.
Results
The game drew 85,000 players, who spent an average of 3 minutes 30 seconds per session behind the wheel.
- 1
The game opens with a loading screen and a short cinematic intro before landing on a home screen that loops footage of the track behind a Montblanc Legend Red logo, the title THE RACE, and a single START button.
- 2
Starting the race moves the camera to a muscle car at the starting line under a star-emblem arch, then plays a 3-2-1 countdown before the car launches and a timer begins.
- 3
A hamburger menu is available throughout the run, dimming the scene to offer a restart, brand and legal links, sound toggle, and language selection; restarting resets the run to the countdown.
- 4
A brief tutorial overlay explains the only control: holding the left or right arrow to steer, since the car accelerates on its own with no separate gas or brake.
- 5
The core loop is steering to stay on a glowing center line: holding the line fills a boost meter, raises speed, and adds light trails, while drifting off it drains the meter and kills the boost, recoverable only by steering back onto the line.
- 6
The track is punctuated by branded set pieces — neon tunnels, fields of white sparks, a Montblanc star emblem, and a giant illuminated MONTBLANC sign along the track wall — scored by an electronic soundtrack.
- 7
The run ends at a checkered finish line that freezes the timer, followed by a brief cutscene where the car speeds off on its own and white-spark fireworks fill the sky.
- 8
A results screen shows the final lap time to the hundredth of a second alongside a high-score line, with options to play again or submit the score to an online leaderboard.
- 9
A hidden keyboard code lets a desktop player pair a phone and steer via its touchscreen instead, while the mobile version launches directly in landscape with real-time touch steering.
- 10
Beyond the web, the same race also runs as a physical events-corner installation in retail stores.
