In the waning days of the 1960s, when Don Sutton was starting his Hall of Fame career and Don Drysdale was finishing his, kids all over the Southland could turn on Channel 9 and catch a block of cartoons. Speed Racer came on first, followed by Ultraman.
In 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.”
Fortunately, the meet-and-greet version of Ultraman that showed up at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday was about 6 feet tall. I dropped by to say hello, although I had been warned he did not converse with humans.
“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,” said David Kornblum, president of Tsuburaya Fields Media and Pictures Entertainment.
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Ultraman turns 60 next year. Kornblum is based in Los Angeles, and his job is to take what his Tokyo-based company calls “Japan’s most beloved superhero” and revive his popularity in the United States. This fall, you’ll be able to stream new and classic episodes of Ultraman.
It’s not just that Shohei Ohtani is more popular than Ultraman in Japan these days. If you’re a Japanese company wanting to get the word out in America about your product, you’re in good company at Dodger Stadium.
“With the Dodgers, you’ve got a 50,000-seat stadium basically sold out for 80 games a year,” Kornblum said. “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 team official dubbed it last year, has taken on a new dimension.
Japanese fans flock to Dodger Stadium, of course, taking stadium tours conducted in Japanese, enjoying a variety of national delicacies at concession stands and clutching shopping bags packed with hundreds — and sometimes thousands — of dollars’ worth of Ohtani merchandise.
And, of the 24 corporations with advertising space between the foul poles at Dodger Stadium as of Tuesday, eight are based in Asia.
What’s new: With Ohtani as a global attraction, Japanese entertainment companies have used Dodger Stadium as a platform to popularize their star attractions.
“There is not a business sector that hasn’t weighed in with us,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said, noting the Dodgers’ league-leading attendance and global 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 each deal, Ohtani’s contract becomes even more magical for the Dodgers. Never mind, for the moment, the sponsorships with Asian airlines, retailers, beverage companies, and so on.
With four Japanese character appearances at Dodger Stadium this season, the Dodgers have made more than the $2 million they pay Ohtani in salary this year. (The other $68 million is deferred.)
And, as the entertainment companies reach customers in the United States, the Dodgers reach fans in Japan, where they have leveraged Ohtani to become the dominant major league team.
The Dodgers launched a fan club there this year. Kasten said they hope to expand their marketing presence there as Major League Baseball considers relaxing rules under which the league itself — rather than individual teams — typically controls international business ventures.
“FC Barcelona told me they have 300 million fans around the world,” Kasten said. “That’s a good role model.”
When Tokyo’s Cover Corp. opened a Los Angeles office last year, they brought their star animated character — Gawr Gura — to Dodger Stadium.
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“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,” said Motoaki Tanigo, the chief executive of Cover. “That was helpful to us, to introduce ourselves.”
The Dodgers sold 8,000 tickets as part of the Cover promotion, the company said and the team confirmed, with 80% of those fans visiting Dodger Stadium for the first time, and with many showing up super early to snap up commemorative merchandise. Cover staged a larger ballpark promotion this year.
Ultraman takes down Alien Baltan before before the ceremonial first pitch on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Ultraman brought no merchandise with him, but he did bring an evil nemesis, who tried to steal the show during the ceremonial first pitch. If the point was to identify the evil nemesis called a kaiju for an unfamiliar audience, I suggested the company dress him in a Padres uniform.
“Or in a Giants uniform,” Kornblum said. “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.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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