M3GAN Takes Over NFL Game and Leaves Football Fans Stunned

The new horror movie M3GAN is taking a page from the marketing and promotional plans for fellow horror movie Smile, by invading the world of professional sports with some truly creepy horror movie flare. As you can see in the video below, the Los Angeles Chargers game played on New Year's Day featured an on-field promo for M3GAN, where a group of model/actresses all dressed up like the titular robotic companion (M3GAN – Model 3 Generative Android) that turns deadly over the course of the film.  

This marketing ploy certainly does the job of making people who may not have been aware that M3GAN is a thing that exists; it similarly is a timely reminder to horror movie fans that M3GAN's release date is now upon us, kicking off the 2023 year in movies! 

As stated above, horror movies have been adopting some pretty creative ways to make big marketing splashes in areas that don't normally promote the genre. Last fall, Paramount turned its small high-concept horror flick Smile into a major box office win ($216 million on a $17M budget) largely thanks to its marketing campaign. After the film's titular demonic smiles tested well with audiences, Paramount moved Smile from going direct to Paramount+ streaming to being a full-fledged theatrical release. The generated major media attention after actors were hired and planted at Major League Baseball games last summer; television and Jumbotron shots of the actors seated behind home plate, smiling unflinchingly for hours while wearing promotional shirts was all it took to secure a big box office. 

M3GAN has similarly easy trope to hook its marketing on, and the success of The Conjuring spinoff series Anabelle, and enduring success of the Child's Play/Chucky franchise re-affirm that horror fans love a good, creepy, murderous doll. You can find the synopsis for M3GAN, below: 

Gemma, a brilliant roboticist at a toy company, uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN (short for Model 3 Generative Android), a lifelike doll programmed to be a child's greatest companion and a parent's greatest ally. After unexpectedly gaining custody of her recently orphaned niece, Cady, when the child's parents die in a car accident, Gemma enlists the help of the M3GAN prototype, a decision that has horrific consequences when the doll becomes self-aware and overprotective of Cady, leading her to kill and harm anyone that gets in her way.

M3GAN will be in theaters this Friday.