During World Series Game 1, MLB aired an exclusive Avengers: Doomsday preview on Fox, with Pedro Pascal's Mister Fantastic throwing the ceremonial first pitch to Joseph Quinn's Human Torch.
The ceremonial first pitch was the one ritual in baseball you could not buy. You could buy the sponsor, you could buy the anthem, you could buy the whole stadium. But the first pitch belonged to whoever was walking out of the dugout, and it was the last honest 30 seconds of the broadcast. Now the ball goes to a man who can stretch. That is what a brand deal means.
Inside the spot, Steve Rogers shows up and Ant-Man gets confused about who to call, because Sam Wilson is the one holding the shield now. A half billion dollar franchise is doing its own continuity fix on national television, between innings, with a baseball.
The scale of it. The five hour livestream with the cast's names written on the backs of chairs pulled 275 million digital views. The July trailer was the second biggest trailer launch in history. Pre sales were already at 50 million dollars, and the December 18 date lands the same weekend as Dune: Part Three. The movie is almost over. The marketing is the movie now.
YOUR TURN: Is the World Series a baseball championship or the biggest ad buy in America?
PAPER TRAIL
- The full breakdown: Deadline
- MLB's teaser: MLB
- The recap: Martin Cid Magazine
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