Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab has partnered with Sony Pictures movie Pixels, using the movie to promote its software with videos on social media sites across Europe.

Kaspersky Lab is one the fastest-growing internet security firms globally, operating in 200 countries and territories, and has been responsible for the discovery and dissection of a number of sophisticated threats including Gauss, RedOctober and Flame.

The partnership with Sony Pictures revolves around the film Pixels, which sees Adam Sandler, Michelle Monaghan and Peter Dinklage battling aliens who have taken on the appearance of classic video game characters such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders.

Agency Brand & Deliver, which was responsible for the campaign, used the film as an inspiration to develop a narrative depicting a technology end user battling a rampaging virus.

“The theme of a digital threat gave us a creative framework to develop a narrative about a cyber-attack by Pixels characters,” said Rob Pratt, design director at Brand & Deliver. “We edited real footage from the film into the animation and applied sound design in-house, which played an important role in establishing the scene, character involvement and maintaining interest and excitement throughout.”

“This is the perfect partnership for us, bringing cyber threats to life using retro video game characters and reinforcing the message that users can rely on our software to eliminate threats,” said Aldo Del Bo, marketing director for Europe at Kaspersky Lab.