Minions, the animated spinoff of the Despicable Me franchise, doesn’t open in the US until Thursday night, but many Americans are likely already experiencing Minions fatigue based on the massive marketing push Universal Pictures has made for the animated movie.
The studio wouldn’t have it any other way. Universal revealed to Deadline that its promotional campaign for the movie is the studio’s largest and most comprehensive ever. This year already, Universal has had its highest-grossing year in history thanks to the massive success of Jurassic World, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2 and Fifty Shades of Grey. With Minions, that record is only set to soar.
“The Minions have permeated pop culture so it has such a broad appeal from ages 3 to 84,” David O’Connor, Universal’s executive vice-president of global brand marketing and partnerships, told Deadline. “We started hearing from brands (around the world), so it was a very coordinated global effort; we worked with all the local offices around the globe.”
In addition to the customary McDonald’s and General Mills tie-ins, Universal spent a large amount on canvassing outdoor Los Angeles with the adorable yellow critters, from taking over the roof of Sunset Boulevard’s famed Cinerama Dome to lining one of its busiest avenues (La Brea) with countless posters. Deadline reports that the studio has executed similar outdoor advertising in New York, Mexico, Australia, France and the UK.
Additionally, Amazon entered its first campaign with Universal for the film. The company is using yellow Minions boxes to deliver goods to customers. But perhaps strangest of all, a New Jersey-based color matching company, Pantone (on its website it prides itself as the “world-renowned authority on color”), has introduced an official “Minion Yellow” color, its first new color in three years.
