As the calendar turns from spring to summer, the warmer temperatures bring us the highs and lows of America’s pastime. Majestic and plentiful homers, programs turned into makeshift fans, sweaty thighs stuck to plastic seats.
Everyone’s favorite time of year featuring our favorite sport wouldn’t be complete without being inundated with reminders to VOTE for our BOYS to make the ALL-STAR GAME (!!)
I have curated my online experience so meticulously, I fear I will not see a single thing about the 2026
All-Star Game. The mute list is thorough – the city, the ballpark, the team and its players, and most nicknames and variations of all of the above.
But of course, I want a huge contingent of Braves to be recognized. (Or do I? The 2023 curse might still be fresh in my mind.) Less than forty games into the young season, it’s way too early to be predicting who will be earning a nod to represent the A.
Except Drake Baldwin. We riot if the reigning ROY doesn’t get to add an All-Star honor to his resume.
There will be plenty of time to bitterly argue over who should win the fan voting based on merit and a deep understanding of stats. That’s a space in which my Battery Power colleagues shine. My lane and expertise is a little different, so I am far more interested in the question: what will the promotional voting campaign look like?
Braves Creative Director Insung Kim and team have undoubtedly already put pen to paper, if not already finalized, what this year’s aesthetics, graphics, and posting schedule will be. Maybe the only thing left to execute is production of their annual promo video for the campaign launch, where Peter Moylan has become their main muse and star. (However, with the introduction of BravesVision, it might be Wiley Ballard’s time to shine…)
Every year, a minimum of thirty-one creative and marketing teams (all clubs, plus MLB itself), have to sit down and decide which singular city trait to use for their All-Star campaign and pray that it’s a wholly original idea. The list on the whiteboard probably doesn’t change much from year to year. It’ll be something like:
- Most famous food / drink
- Historical or pop culture homage
- Generic regional quirk
The first one has been the frontrunner the last few years. We all saw everyone and their mother doing coffee/barista campaigns for Seattle in 2023. It was a little disappointing, but not surprising, to see everyone resort to Legally Distinct Waffle House / diner theming and photoshoots when we hosted last year. I guess peaches and peanuts weren’t inspiring stuff.
Arlington’s cowboy hats and wild West stereotypes in ‘24 fall in the third bucket and thus were everywhere (but it doesn’t feel like it ever left Atlanta with the introduction of the “Braves Country” branding shortly thereafter).
I could be entirely wrong, but it seemed like everything across the org kicked up a notch after winning it all in 2021, and the budget increase for marketing showed. For Los Angeles in 2022, the Braves rolled out their “send our stars to Hollywood” campaign giving each player a feature film title and brief trailers for each. These graphics became real posters that were given to fans, the trailers played at local movie theaters… this one was fun and the fans seemed to react enthusiastically in turn. Not only was this a successful test run / proof-of-concept for the marketing team (2022’s six All-Star selections are the most for the Braves since 2011, when they had five players in attendance), it’s yet another case of how human originality and creativity can resonate with people, be valuable, and build a brand.
The Braves’ investment in creative concepting and campaign execution doesn’t go unnoticed and unappreciated by me! In the spirit of the list above, here are some ideas off the top of my head for 2026 in Philadelphia:
Weiss’s Water Ice
Pretty self-explanatory. Some examples:
- Rainbow Acuña Jr.
- Mango Matty O
- Baldwin Blue Raspberry
- Yaz-pricot
- Butterscozzie Albies (woof, I know)
The Boxin’ Braves
The Rocky statue is there, but that’s pretty one-note on its own. I’m envisioning something similar to the Hollywood and Western campaigns where they give players a ring name or persona and different boxing poses in their respective posters.
Convenience store (à la Wawa)
This seems comparable to the Waffle House of it all. It must be of some significance to the city’s denizens if they changed the r/phillies subreddit to it during their losing streak earlier this season. There’s a hoagie angle here but I’m not going to even try.
Honorable mention concepts I didn’t want to think through: American history, soft pretzels, being home of the First U.S. Mint for some coin-related imagery, perhaps.
In all seriousness, my best guess for the creative vision will probably be around Philadelphia being the Mural Capital of the World. If not done by the Braves, then it’s a contender for the league in general. It’s a way that pays homage to the city in a way that’s very safe / not controversial or too pander-y. There’s immense potential for distinctive, stylized, and vibrant photo treatments and backdrops. And it could have nice tie-ins and activations throughout the city engaging with the existing walls and murals in the lead up to the game itself.
We’re a month out til all the All-Star festivities kick off in earnest. While you all brace yourselves, I’ll be waiting with bated breath to see what creative’s cooked up (and to see if I’m completely off the mark). Did I miss any extremely obvious ideas? Let us know in the comments.
