PLAYSTATION
To decide which of the top players would grace the cover of MLB 13, we combined two quintessentially American pastimes: baseball and political elections.
Fans voted for their favorite athlete and were rewarded with (over 40) videos, stats and an interactive stadium of their guy. In turn they memed, threatened their loved ones online, and even used pizza to vote. Everyone from ESPN to Fox to Eva Longoria, Spike Lee, Anthony Bourdain and LeBron James (to name a few) tuned joined the fray. And when the dust settled, Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates won the ultimate honor, immortality as the cover athlete.
In just five days, over 433,000 votes were cast, the campaign was hashtagged over a million times, the videos got over a million views and the site was visited over a million times.
When the dust settled, we had over 800 million earned media impressions and Andrew McCutchen emerged victorious.
People voted using FB or Twitter, and each vote earned them a virtual seat in their player's stadium. Fans help make the campaign go viral through their memes.
A few of the over 40 videos released throughout the campaign.
Press
NBC Sports / "You Can Vote for the Cover Boy for MLB ’13 The Show"
ESPN / "CC Sabathia Takes PlayStation on the Road"
ESPN / "Andrew McCutchen joins 'The Show' Vote"
ESPN / "Buster Posey talks 'MLB 13,' World Series"
Yahoo / "Seven of Baseball's Best Compete for the Love of the Fans"
Yahoo Sports / "Bryce Harper Campaigns for MLB 13 Cover With a Good Impression of ‘The Bachelor'"
Fox Sports / "Braun tries for cover of MLB 13: The Show"
USA Today / "MLB The Show 13 Gets Cover Athlete"
Bloomberg / "MLB 13 Cover Showdown Officially Launches"
Bleacher Report / "MLB 13 the Show: Breaking Down Top-3 Vote-Getters for Cover"
SB Nation / "Andrew McCutchen Brings MVP Baseball Back to the PlayStation"
CBS Detroit / "Vote Miggy: MLB 2013 Cover Showdown"
CBS Pittsburgh / "McCutchen Wins Voting Contest To Be On MLB 13 The Show Cover"
Fox Milwaukee / "Ryan Braun One of Seven Finalists for Cover of MLB 13: The Show"
MLB Fan Cave / "MLB 13 Cover Showdown: Vote for Me"
Vin Scully's Homeboy / "MLB 13 The Show Cover - Vote Matt Kemp!"
Complex / "Baseball's Top Players Will Compete for 'MLB 13 The Show' Cover"
The Examiner / "Andrew McCutchen will grace the cover of MLB 13: The Show"
Game Informer / "MLB 13 The Show Declares Its Cover Athlete"