Baseball GOATs star in DirecTV 'Ghostbusters' homage

Follow-up to Serena Williams as Wonder Woman spot takes the supernatural to the baseball field

Published On
Apr 22, 2022

Editor's Pick

With so much TV to watch these days, why choose? To promote DirecTV Stream, a hybrid service of live and on-demand programming, the cable brand’s latest campaign supernaturally morphs baseball legends with the ‘80s’ favorite afterlife exterminators to create “GOATbusters.”

The spots from agency TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles and directed by Brian Billow of O Positive finds a couple enjoying a movie night in. But when choosing between a live baseball game and the latest “Ghostbusters” film on demand, they create an alternate universe through rapid channel switching.

A baseball field is thrown into chaos as a gargantuan baseball mascot, akin to the first “Ghostbusters” movie’s Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, wreaks havoc on the stadium. The familiar sirened hearse races onto the pitch, and Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson emerge for battle. They aim their ghost-busting gadgets at the monster as the couple watch wide-eyed at the mayhem they’ve caused.

 

A companion spot riffs on the iconic “Ghostbusters” theme song. In infomercial style, the baseball GOATs recite eerie selling points: “Are you haunted by your cable service?” and “Have you noticed strange, frightening fees on your monthly bill?" These queries of course lead to the athletes shouting in unison, “Who ya gonna call?” This time the answer is DirecTV Stream.

“GOATbusters” builds on DirecTV’s momentum gained last year combining popular film and sports stars with Serena Williams donning Wonder Woman’s gear. The new spot will debut during the Dodgers at Padres game this weekend on MLB Network and air across on-air, outdoor, digital and multimedia channels. The campaign will also feature additional creative assets on social media platforms, including interactive filters on Snapchat and Facebook.

Credits

Date
Apr 22, 2022
Client :
DirecTV
Agency :
TBWA/Chiat/Day-Los Angeles
Chief Marketing Officer :
Vince Torres
VP Advertising and Go-To-Market :
Kendall Thaker
Senior Director, Product Marketing Management :
Sheri Holmes:
Lead Product Marketing Manager :
Jenn Wang
Product Marketing Manager :
Ty Tanioka:
CEO :
Erin Riley
Chief Creative Officer :
Renato Fernandez
Group Creative Director :
Jason Karley
Creative Director :
Mark Winters
Creative Director :
Ryan Buckley
Senior Copywriter :
Tyler Archibald
Senior Art Director :
Will Holmes
Jr. Art Director :
Andrew Bae
Head of Art & Design :
Bruno Regalo
Senior Designer :
Jake Skirving
Jr. Designer :
Andrea Nazario
Director of Content Production :
Guia Iacomin
Senior Producer :
Alicia Portner
Executive Art Producer :
Dena Moore
Senior Art Producer :
Elisabeth Fried
Art Producer :
Ryan McDonald
Director of Traffic Operations :
Dessiah Davis
Traffic Manager :
Marian Cabasso
Director of Business Affairs :
Robin Rossi
Chief Strategy Officer :
Jen Costello
Group Strategy Director :
Jesse Unger
Senior Strategist :
Laura Gorder
Jr. Strategist :
Hannah Schweitzer
Head of Connections Planning :
Albert Kim
Associate Director of Connections :
Kevin Bautista
Data Director :
Laura Mayer
Senior Data Strategist :
Zahara Chaudhry
Brand Lead :
Matt Theisen
Account Supervisor :
Carlos Quintanilla
Account Executive :
Bridget Derraugh
Project Manager :
Lawrence Gonzales
Production :
O Positive
Director :
Jim Jenkins
EP :
Ralph Laucella
Producer :
Marc Grill
Head of Production :
Devon Clark
DP :
Gyula Pados
PD :
Jason Edmonds
AD :
Greg McCollum
Costume Designer :
Michelle Martini
Editorial :
Arcade Edit
Editor :
Geoff Hounsell
Assistant :
Paulo Miramontes
Producer :
Alexa Atkin
Producer :
Tom Barnett
EP :
Crissy deSimone
VFX :
The Mil
Executive Creative Director :
Nathan Kane
Shoot Supervisor :
James Mulholland
Shoot Supervisor :
Nathan Kane
Executive Producer :
Clairellen Wallin
Sr Producer :
Jack Williams
Producer :
Chanelle Larios
Production Coordinator :
Kyla Graham
Production Support :
Siggy Chojnacki
3D Lead Artist :
Justin Kurtz
3D Lead Artist :
Yong Chan Kim
2D Lead Artist: :
Andre Vidal
2D Lead Artist: :
Krissy Nordella
2D Artist :
Jay Lee
2D Artist :
Jeeeun Lee
2D Artist :
Yoon-sun Bae
2D Artist :
Hailey Akashian
2D Artist :
Felipe Passarani
2D Artist :
Rajesh Kaushik
2D Artist :
Noah Catan
2D Artist :
Jiin You
Animation Lead :
John Wilson
Animation :
Jessica Castillo
Finish Artist :
Matt McDonald
Finish Artist :
Anton Anderson
Graphic Animation Art Director: :
James van den Elshout
Designer :
Chris Szeto
Concept Design :
Maxim Kozhevnikov
Audio Post/SFX :
String & Tins
Sound Designer :
Culum Simpson
Additional Sound Design :
Joe Wilkinson
Foley :
Cobblestone Foley
Audio Producer :
Laura-Leigh Smith
Music :
Walker Music
Executive Producer :
Sara Matarazzo
Executive Producer :
Stephanie Pigott
Senior Producer :
Danielle Soury
Executive Producer :
Susie Boyajan
Sound Mixer :
Matt Miller
Mix Assistant :
Ian Connie
Baseball Footage :
Stalkr.TV
Retouching :
Diego Speroni
Digital Artist :
Diego Speroni
Digital Assistant :
Francisco Speroni
Digital Producer :
Freddy Fabris
Production :
Sony Pictures
Production :
Ghost Corps
Chief Creative Officer :
Val Carlson
Executive Creative Director :
Andrew Lavery
Creative Director :
James Maclean
Assoc. Creative Director :
Javier Olivares
Assoc. Creative Director :
Megahn O’Neill
Senior Art Director :
Ryan Mesnchuk
Art Director :
Taylor Lumley
Designer :
Ana Benitez Duarte
Senior Copywriter :
Peter Lagosky
Production Design Lead :
Thomas Turner
Copywriter :
Daisy Swain
Strategy Director :
Kyle Bottoms
Sr. Strategist :
Faith Tyrell
EVP Client Partner :
Stacia Parseghian
SVP Client Partner :
Maria Hodgeson
VP Client Partner :
Lauren Rappaport
Sr. Account Director :
Andrew Burke
Account Manager :
Carly Barnhart
Executive Producer :
Sydney Woodman
Assoc. Program Director :
Ashleigh Fehmie
Sr. Producer :
Lexi Scott
Sr. Producer :
Vince Varga
Sr. Producer :
Ian Wells
Assoc. Producer :
Logan Knight
Assoc. Producer :
Luc Wilson
Production :
O Positive
Director :
Brian Billow
EP :
Ralph Laucella
EP :
Marc Grill
Head of Production :
Devon Clark
Producer :
Grayson Bithell
DP :
Don Davis
Prod Designer :
Jason Edmonds
Costume Designer :
Michelle Martini
AD :
Paul Norman
Editorial :
Arcade Edit
Editor :
Fernando Raigoza
Assistant :
Joelle Graham
EP :
Crissy deSimone
Producer :
Alexa Atkin
Producer :
Tom Barnett
Mix :
Lime

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