Who Gave the Cubs My Search History?

This week, Maddie breaks down how the Chicago Cubs are using romance to win over people who couldn’t care less about baseball.

Enjoy 👇

First of all, shoutout to my dear friend Callie for sending me this TikTok series and telling me I needed to make it this week's Digital Gravity.

And, well, Callie was right.

Before the Sox fans start typing, yes, I know what this looks like.

I am a Chicago White Sox fan.

Born and raised.

I will root for the Cubs if they aren't playing the Sox.

That's it.

That's the treaty.

But unfortunately for my baseball allegiance, I am also a rom-com connoisseur.

And by connoisseur, I mean I have watched every good rom-com approximately 93 times (not even being dramatic), so my friends are currently outside AMC with picket signs begging Hollywood to make literally anything new.

They are tired.

I am not.

So when Callie sent me a TikTok about the Cubs making a rom-com, I was like:

Oh no.

This is for me.

I fear someone at the Cubs has been monitoring my search history.

This is literally targeted advertising against me.

This feels less like marketing and more like someone accessed my brain.

The Cubs are launching Nine Innings to Love, a 17-episode scripted series on TikTok about an aspiring romance writer who tries to help her Wrigley Field seatmate find love.

A baseball team made a rom-com.

On TikTok.

I need everyone to understand how personally this feels.

Because the Cubs aren't just making content for Cubs fans.

They're making content for the girl who sees a baseball video on her FYP and goes:

"Respectfully, I do not care."

But put a fictional romance in Wrigley Field?

Suddenly:

It's over. She's one of us now.

She is in the trenches.

She has chosen her favorite character.

She has a ship.

She is fighting for her life in the comments.

And honestly?

That's kind of genius.

Because the Cubs basically looked at three completely different communities and said:

"What if we put these three groups in a group chat?"

And I fear the group chat is thriving.

That's the part of this I really love from a marketing perspective.

The Cubs found communities that might not normally care about them and gave them a reason to.

They're not trying to convince someone who doesn't care about baseball to suddenly care about baseball.

They're giving that person something they already care about and casually putting the Cubs in the plot.

The romance girlies don't have to wake up thinking:

"Wow. I would love to consume some Chicago Cubs content today."

They just have to think:

"Wait. Is he hot?"

And boom.

You have acquired a new baseball fan against her will.

Maybe.

But that's the fun part.

You don't always have to make someone care about your brand.

Sometimes you just need to make something they already care about and sneak your brand into the plot.

And I think there are three things brands could steal from this:

That's the magic.

Sometimes the best way to get someone through the door isn't to talk about yourself louder.

It's to figure out what they're already obsessed with.

They came for the fictional boyfriend.

They stayed for the baseball.

Probably.

Will this turn me into a Cubs fan?

Absolutely not.

I have morals. I have boundaries. I have a White Sox jersey.

Will I be watching a baseball-themed TikTok rom-com?

Unfortunately, yes.

Callie, I hope you're happy. You have single-handedly endangered my baseball allegiance.

If you see any fun marketing come across your desk, send it my way. I’m always looking for something to obsess over next.

—Maddie

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