Within the waning days of the Nineteen Sixties, when Don Sutton was beginning his Corridor of Fame profession and Don Drysdale was ending his, children everywhere in the Southland may activate Channel 9 and catch a block of cartoons. Velocity Racer got here on first, adopted by Ultraman.
Within the lore: “A 130-foot tall red and silver giant of light, Ultraman came to Earth from another galaxy to protect humanity from invading aliens and giant monsters.”
Luckily, the meet-and-greet model of Ultraman that confirmed up at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday was about 6 ft tall. I dropped by to say hey, though I had been warned he didn’t converse with people.
“He’ll look at you quizzically, but also with endearment, knowing you are a little carbon-based unit that would like to become his friend,” stated David Kornblum, president of Tsuburaya Fields Media and Photos Leisure.
Ultraman turns 60 subsequent yr. Kornblum relies in Los Angeles, and his job is to take what his Tokyo-based firm calls “Japan’s most beloved superhero” and revive his reputation in america. This fall, you’ll have the ability to stream new and basic episodes of Ultraman.
It’s not simply that Shohei Ohtani is extra common than Ultraman in Japan lately. In the event you’re a Japanese firm desirous to get the phrase out in America about your product, you’re in good firm at Dodger Stadium.
“With the Dodgers, you’ve got a 50,000-seat stadium basically sold out for 80 games a year,” Kornblum stated. “It’s a natural in terms of having exposure for this character in this market, the second-largest market in the country.
“You have the opportunity to showcase your character with the most popular team.”
The “Shohei economy,” as one staff official dubbed it final yr, has taken on a brand new dimension.
Japanese followers flock to Dodger Stadium, after all, taking stadium excursions carried out in Japanese, having fun with quite a lot of nationwide delicacies at concession stands and clutching procuring baggage filled with lots of — and typically hundreds — of {dollars}’ value of Ohtani merchandise.
And, of the 24 firms with promoting area between the foul poles at Dodger Stadium as of Tuesday, eight are primarily based in Asia.
What’s new: With Ohtani as a world attraction, Japanese leisure corporations have used Dodger Stadium as a platform to popularize their star sights.
“There is not a business sector that hasn’t weighed in with us,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten stated, noting the Dodgers’ league-leading attendance and world viewership. “We are an entertainment venue. We’re a place to go to get attention.
“If you’re a brand looking for attention, where else would you go?”
With every deal, Ohtani’s contract turns into much more magical for the Dodgers. By no means thoughts, for the second, the sponsorships with Asian airways, retailers, beverage corporations, and so forth.
With 4 Japanese character appearances at Dodger Stadium this season, the Dodgers have made greater than the $2 million they pay Ohtani in wage this yr. (The opposite $68 million is deferred.)
And, because the leisure corporations attain prospects in america, the Dodgers attain followers in Japan, the place they’ve leveraged Ohtani to turn out to be the dominant main league staff.
The Dodgers launched a fan membership there this yr. Kasten stated they hope to develop their advertising and marketing presence there as Main League Baseball considers enjoyable guidelines beneath which the league itself — moderately than particular person groups — sometimes controls worldwide enterprise ventures.
“FC Barcelona told me they have 300 million fans around the world,” Kasten stated. “That’s a good role model.”
When Tokyo’s Cowl Corp. opened a Los Angeles workplace final yr, they introduced their star animated character — Gawr Gura — to Dodger Stadium.
“The fact that we could say we had a collaboration with the Dodgers, that is helpful to show we are that level of a brand,” stated Motoaki Tanigo, the chief government of Cowl. “That was helpful to us, to introduce ourselves.”
The Dodgers bought 8,000 tickets as a part of the Cowl promotion, the corporate stated and the staff confirmed, with 80% of these followers visiting Dodger Stadium for the primary time, and with many exhibiting up tremendous early to snap up commemorative merchandise. Cowl staged a bigger ballpark promotion this yr.
Ultraman takes down Alien Baltan earlier than earlier than the ceremonial first pitch on Tuesday night time at Dodger Stadium.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Occasions)
Ultraman introduced no merchandise with him, however he did deliver an evil nemesis, who tried to steal the present throughout the ceremonial first pitch. If the purpose was to establish the evil nemesis referred to as a kaiju for an unfamiliar viewers, I recommended the corporate costume him in a Padres uniform.
“Or in a Giants uniform,” Kornblum stated. “I would love if they would allow us to have a full smackdown, with a kaiju in a Giants jersey vs. Ultraman in a Dodgers jersey.
“A beatdown at home plate would be fun. But the corporate guys won’t let me do that.”
