Odiorne Wilde Narraway & Partners, known for its recent off-the-wall campaigns for clients such as Half.com and Burger King, has returned with an unconventional push for Electronic Arts' latest videogame.

The eight spots for The Sims were shot for a total of just $350,000. The commercials, now breaking nationally, feature appearances by an aging, overweight clown, the Grim Reaper and a llama.

"We just leaned into the subject matter we were handed. The characters displayed in the commercial are in the game," said Jeff Odiorne, creative director at the San Francisco agency. "There are genies, a clown and a psychic, and when you put them in situations, things happen. We didn't have to invent anything."

The Sims is a PC game that allows gamers to give their characters a unique appearance and personality, move them into their own homes and guide their life steps. Each of the spots starts out with a '50s father saying to his son, "Hey there, sport, what's all the racket?" In each situation, the young man becomes part of a bizarre event in his suburban home.

In one spot, the boy is shown in a bathtub with the aging clown and various other characters. The clown looks around apprehensively before emitting gas and saying, "These crab cakes sure pack a wallop."

"The content is just fun, and the game is so unpredictable," Odiorne said.

The copywriter on the spots was Alex Loomis and the art director was Graham Lee. OWN&P is lead agency for EA, San Mateo, Calif., best known for its sports titles.