To celebrate Hulu Animayhem, the streamer’s impressive slate of adult animation hits, Hulu tasked us with creating its first-ever significant experiential presence at San Diego Comic-Con.

Our goal was to establish Hulu as the destination for adult animation by breaking through the noise of SDCC and creating the MUST-SEE activation of 2023.

We had to showcase eight adult animation favorites like Bob’s Burgers and The Simpsons while elevating Hulu Originals like Solar Opposites. A major priority was to hype the much-anticipated return of Futurama.

Positive buzz on the ground, media stories, social sharing, earned media, and awareness were our prime objectives.

For four days, we invited fans to do what they’ve never been able to do before - ENTER THE 2ND DIMENSION and step inside the 2D worlds of their favorite animated shows.

Creating an experience representing so many beloved series (Solar Opposites, The Great North, Bob’s Burgers, American Dad, Family Guy, Archer, The Simpsons, and Futurama) was no easy task. To ensure we paid service to what people love about eight very different shows, we looked at fan-favorite qualities they all share.

Every Animayhem show—from Solar Opposites to Futurama—has an unrestrained sense of humor and fun grounded in a colorful, two-dimensional world. Fans love to spend time in these two-dimensional worlds, and Hulu’s streaming data confirms this.

From this observation, we developed Hulu Animayhem: Enter the 2nd Dimension. For four days, we invited fans to do what they’ve never been able to do before - ENTER THE 2ND DIMENSION and step inside the 2D worlds of their favorite animated shows.

The target audience was primarily existing fans of adult animated entertainment. Given that Hulu had not had an extensive experiential presence at SDCC in the past, we wanted to create an experience that could up the ante on other large well-known IPs that consumers are used to seeing at the convention. By embracing the shared 2D visual aesthetic between all the series, we were able to create an “ownable” look and feel for the activation. This approach yielded a visual experiential language allowing Hulu to build on it year after year.

We transported fans from the 3D world to the 2nd Dimension through an eye-catching ‘portal’ that featured characters from the shows. Each series was represented in the experience:

Solar Opposites with larger-than-life photo ops and easter eggs

A Hall of Infinite Rogers from American Dad

An interactive projection experience for The Great North

The Wall of Agency Heros photo opp for Archer

A 2D ‘living room’ featuring famous couches like the purple couch from Family Guy, the iconic orange Simpson’s couch, and a custom Hulu green couch

An exact, 2D replicate of the restaurant from Bob’s Burgers

A Family Guy Time Travel photo opp

An unmissable 55-foot replica of the Planet Express HQ with the iconic Planet Express ship crashed into the side for Futurama.

We then sent fans back to the three-dimensional world in style with covetable 2D swag, including highly recognizable 2D backpacks.

Hulu Animayhem: Enter the Second Dimension was the most sought-after Activation at SDCC 2023, garnering massive crowds daily and dramatically exceeding estimated throughput. Over four days, the total throughput was 15,093. The activation was covered by marquee entertainment and business publications such as AdWeek, Collider, IMDb, The Wrap, Yahoo Entertainment, and more.

It was also covered locally by many well-known outlets, such as The San Diego Union-Tribune, FOX 5 San Diego, ABC 10 San Diego, and CBS 8 San Diego. Niche outlets also covered it, including SYFY, Gizmodo, Bleeding Cool, Comics Beat, and many more.

PR results:

Over 60 Major Press Stories

4.6 Billion media impressions

28 Million social media impressions

Social Listening Stats:

11.4k total mentions

Animayhem language used in 23% of total SDCC conversation

Sentiment surrounding the event was very high — at 86% or higher for the brand and all originals