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A hero is more than a person, a hero is a belief. A belief that, against impossible odds, the world can be saved—and that the world is still worth saving. Heroes inspire that belief in us. They renew our faith and give us that most precious of all gifts—hope. The world needs heroes. That's why, when a true hero arrives, the world will honor him.”
— Xbox.com introduction of "Believe."
Halo-3-believe-miniatures

Believe is a Microsoft marketing campaign for Halo 3 produced by New Deal Studios. It features the word "Believe" as a tagline, and appears to be honoring the legacy of John-117, citing him as a hero of the United Nations Space Command whose brave actions inspired other servicemen during the Human-Covenant war.[1]

It includes handouts, live-action TV commercials, magazine page advertisements, and Xbox live marketplace ads.

Media[]

Websites[]

(Note the Websites are defunct now. Anything that can be found is either on its relevant page or on this page)

  • Diorama – An interactive flash movie, a part of the Believe campaign for Halo 3. It is a fly through of the John-117 Monument, and was viewed at the Halo 3 website.
  • On Xbox.com, there was a collection of photographs from war photographer Jake Courage titled "Shooting a Hero".

Trailers[]

  • Museum – A live-action TV commercial featuring Retired Major Pawel Czernek, a UNSC veteran that fought in the Battle of New Mombasa alongside SPARTAN-117, reminiscing of his memories of the inspiring hero.
  • Hunted – A live-action TV commercial.
  • Enemy Weapon – A live-action TV commercial.
  • Gravesite – A live-action TV commercial that explores the battleground and talks of Spartan 117's "death".
  • Believe: The John 117 Monument – A live-action online video, describing the in-universe construction of the memorial diorama.
  • Shooting a Hero – A trailer detailing the photos of John-117 that Jake Courage took.[2]
    • Making of Shooting a Hero – Making of the photos for the art gallery and Xbox.com site.[3]

Events[]

  • Believe – A pamphlet distributed at the Project Revolution musical festival, featuring in-universe musical presentation of the UNSC Symphony Orchestra.
  • Believe Plaques – Plaques were displayed in several locations. The dates on some of these plaques are canonically incorrect, describing Human-Covenant War events involving John-117 happening in mid-2553 and later, despite the fact that the war had ended and John was Missing In Action by that time.
  • Art Galleries – Several photographs were shown in art galleries in the UK that were photos by Jake Courage.

Real Life[]

  • Believe (Magazine) – An advertisement in the September 2007 issues of EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), OXM (Official Xbox Magazine), and other magazines around that month.

Trivia[]

  • The creators of the campaign were not informed of the story of Halo 3, leading to multiple inconsistencies with the story depicted in Believe, and the game's story. Due to this, no aspect of the marketing campaign can be considered canon.
  • There was also an in-universe look at the creation of the Believe models.[4]
  • On Xbox.com, there is a collection of photographs from war photographer Jake Courage titled "Shooting a Hero".
  • Stan Winston Studio was responsible for the diorama featured in the Halo 3 Believe ads.[citation needed]
  • The melody that was used in the Believe commercials was created by Polish pianist Frédéric Chopin and is called "Preludes #15, Raindrop". Incidentally, the Xbox 360 games Eternal Sonata is based on Chopin's death and Saints Row also contains "Raindrop."
  • One of the trailers for the first-person shooter game Bulletstorm (published by Electronic Arts and developed by Epic Games/People Can Fly), titled Last Call, parodies Believe (specifically the diorama).
  • At the Halo 3: ODST map Mombasa Streets, there are several graffiti where you can read BELIEVE, maybe being a reference to the marketing campaign for Halo 3 of the same name.
  • A new trailer released for the game Serious Sam HD entitled "Seriously Believe" is an obvious tribute or parody to the Believe campaign, utilizing a selection of frozen in-game views in place of the models, a similar track, and a black screen at the end with the words "Seriously Believe" appearing, very similar to the original "Believe" trailer.
  • The "Believe" ad was named one of the best television ads of the decade by AdWeek.
  • The "Believe" ads were the first times that the Human-Covenant war was given such a grim outlook outside the comics and novels. This continued on to the Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach ads. Specifically, We Are ODST, and Deliver Hope.

External links[]

Sources[]


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