Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim spin-off network (which airs during late night all week long) is no stranger to giving its fans more than they expect, as it’s proven with its innovative Instagram program. Now, Adult Swim is bringing back the long-forgotten drive-in movie format for a newly introduced promotion one that’s bound to be a hit in time for the fall season.
Adweek has reported that the Adult Swim Drive-In, a six-week event that will visit 15 cities in the U.S., will kick off in September 17. Attendees 18 and up are welcome to attend (after RSVP’ing at the official Adult Swim site), and will be able to see a variety of unaired episodes from its programming line-up, including Rick and Morty, Robot Chicken, Squidbillies, Mike Tyson Mysteries and Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, among others.
Viewers will be able to watch in comfort via an inflatable screen, and partake in trivia to win Adult Swim-related prizes. There will also be food trucks providing free food at each stop, along with a VIP viewing area (sponsored by Cricket Wireless) that includes free popcorn and candy from Hershey’s Jolly Rancher.
The tour will also tie in with the forthcoming horror-comedy Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse in some stops, and Sony will provide a PlayStation Vue-labeled food truck, along with the opportunity to win PlayStation 4 consoles and bundle packs.
“Our strategy for events is to create something that allows our fans to connect with us and connect with each other, and to build on the strong relationship we’ve established with them through the linear network and our digital and social presence,” said Amantha Walden, senior director, talent and events, Adult Swim. “The Drive-In tour idea stemmed from our desire to create a fun, easily portable experience that focused on our content and gave our fans a special experience.”
“These events provide a fantastic opportunity to more closely align our advertising partners with the Adult Swim brand and help them to get in front of a desirable, hard-to-reach audience of millennial consumers,” said Joe Hogan, senior vice president of Turner Emerging Consumers ad sales at Turner Broadcasting.
The tour will cover a number of locations, including Pittsburgh (the first stop on the 17), Charlotte, Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The final stop will be in Sacramento on Halloween, October 31.
Adult Swim tested out the drive-in concept before, at a previous event in Santa Monica back in March. Like its Fun House tour from last year, as well as the Adult Swim Block Parties and Ragbag of Jollification College Tour events before it, it turned out to be a big hit. The same is likely for the tour, especially with more popular faces like Rick and Morty (fast becoming one of the more entertaining shows on the network) and Mike Tyson.
Plus, customers won’t have to worry about wearing out their car battery a constant fear with some older drive-ins.
