Dive Brief:

• Mucinex created an online video game that allows players to devise different scenarios where its antagonistic Mr. Mucus mascot gets crushed with the aid of generative artificial intelligence (AI), according to a news release.  
• Mucus Masher applies image generation technology and large language models to let users get creative in destroying the anthropomorphized embodiment of their cold and flu systems, with the final result graded based on factors like originality.   
• The game closes by letting players download their score, invite friends to join in and claim coupons from the Reckitt-owned brand. Mucinex is also plotting a real-world stunt depicting the aftermath of a piano flattening Mr. Mucus to raise awareness for the game.   

Dive Insight:

Consumers dogged by cold and flu symptoms late into February may get a bit of catharsis from playing Mucus Masher, a game where they can obliterate Mr. Mucus with an object of their choosing. Agency partner McCann New York and digital production houses Active Theory and Addition helped develop the interactive effort. 

Mucinex is trumpeting Mucus Masher’s application of emergent AI technology, here leveraged to envision different situations where Mr. Mucus goes splat. A text box limited to 20 characters lets people submit their ideas for a crushing object. The engine rejects certain prompts, such as inputting the names of public figures (“Dwyane Johnson,” for instance) or lewd suggestions, and offers prefab picks such as whales, skyscrapers and planet Earth.

Mucinex worked with Getty Images AI to ensure that no two crushes are the same, and users are graded on their originality and the weight of the object they choose. The website offers a warning about the AI underpinnings — “Things might get weird.” — before players hit the “Smash!” button. A submission for Snorlax, the oversized Pokemon monster, produced an odd amalgamation of what appear to be animal noses, speaking to how AI-powered image generation can still get tripped up in the details.  

Mucus Masher aligns with Mucinex’s long history of TV commercials that see the grubby mascot (currently voiced by Jason Mantzoukas) eliminated in creative ways. On Thursday, the Reckitt marketer will stage a crushing incident involving a piano that pancakes Mr. Mucus in New York City to draw more consumers to the game.