CHICAGO BEARS 2018 SEASON CREATIVE
THE WORK
Founded in 1920, the Chicago Bears is one of the oldest teams in the NFL. They compete in the National Football Conference North division and hold the NFL record for the most players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the most retired jersey numbers and also have recorded more victories than any other NFL franchise.
With such a legendary history, the Bears were looking for ways to extend the Bears brand and showcase their players’ larger than life abilities. The Chicago Bears tasked Athlitacomics with creating a unique way to introduce a new generation of Bears fans to the “Monsters of the Midway,” where players are depicted as comic superheroes. Each “Monster” had his own unique powers, playing off his natural skillset as a football player.
THE INTENT
The vision was to create an alternate universe in which the “Monsters of the Midway” defend the City of Chicago from a weekly nemesis from the 2018 schedule. The story needed to take the fans up to the point of conflict each week where the characters would transition from the comic world into reality as the outcome is played out on the field. The comic project presented a risk as it was important to make sure older fans were not alienated. The style of the story and custom-designed visuals were key to the success of the campaign.
THE EXECUTION
The Chicago Bears partnered with Athlitacomics to meld the worlds of comics and sports. The project included Athlitacomics providing artwork and animation for the schedule release and game introduction video, player illustrations, opponent illustrations, a weekly comic strip featured online as well as in the Chicago Tribune and a variety of other assets to build the “Monsters of the Midway” universe. Timelines for assets were extremely tight during this yearlong project, however Athlitacomics met each deadline for a seamless campaign.
The remaining aspect of the project for Athlitacomics was to roll out the artwork, player illustrations, opponent illustrations, stadium illustrations, and weekly comic strips featured online as well as in the Chicago Tribune and a variety of other assets that completed the buildout of the “Monsters of the Midway” universe.
