Monster Collection of Back to the Future Day Marketing Tie-Ins

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Back to the Future

Back to the Future Day is finally here. Facebook estimates that over a million users have engaged with the various 4,500-plus Back to the Future pages celebrating October 21st, 2015. So it’s no surprise that brands are rushing in to capitalize on the fun and party with Marty.

Everyone from search engines to athletic wear to numerous automakers to the White House have gone back… to the today. Even the stiff upper lips at the BBC produced numerous packages about Back to the Future Day.

Some of it is Marty. Some of it is Biff. And some of it is pure cockeyed “Whack to the Future” Doc.

Much to our relief, Toyota finally paid homage to its biggest contribution to the Back to the Future franchise: Its “hot” 1985 Toyota 4×4.

Toyota’s new short film “Fueled by the Future” gives the 4×4 a proper cameo. Toyota also created a spoof ad for “Statler Toyota”—the fictional dealership from the franchise.

The five-minute video about the Toyota Mirai “fueled by garbage” claims to have been filmed on Oct. 21. Yet it was uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 20. Maybe Toyota should be demonstrating the technology that made THAT possible.

But Toyota (and Lexus with its hoverboard) are not the only automakers riding the coattails of Back to the Future Day.

Mercedes-Benz wished the world “Happy Back to the Future Day” with a collection of videos showing off its futuristic concept car. “Thanks for inspiring our engineers, Doc,” says Mercedes in a nod to Dr. Emmett Lathrop “Doc” Brown, Ph.D., the character played by Christopher Lloyd.

Speaking of Lexus, the brand that teased and then released its original hoverboard promo in August was busy reminding everyone of its very real accomplishment.

Great Scott! Every automaker in the world wants in on Back to the Future Day!

Among the automakers promoting Back to the Future Day, it turns out that Ford almost bought its way into the movie franchise, almost replacing the DeLorean with a Mustang. Almost.

Joining Lexus and Toyota with an actual technological achievement is Nike. The athletic brand has been teasing its Back to the Future MAG shoes for years. Now it’s finally making the self-lacing shoes a reality.

The first pair, of course, will go to Michael J. “Marty McFly” Fox. The actor and Nike’s tweets about the shoes—and the awesome letter sent by Nike designer Tinker Hatfield to Fox—had over 20,000 retweets in a matter of hours.

Fox also wore them on the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight to promote their public release in January, in support of the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

3M, meanwhile, scored for the production value of its Back to the Future Day video:

Other brands in on the Back to the Future fun included Pepsi, which offered Uber rides in a DeLorean in London to promote Pepsi Max:

Those limited edition Pepsi Perfect bottles, by the way? They already sold out.

Uber competitor Lyft, meanwhile, partnered with Verizon to offer DeLorean rides across the pond in New York City.

Buckle up, Londoners and New Yorkers. As part of his BTTF media blitz this week, Christopher Lloy called the DeLorean (gulp) “not a well-made car.”

Google teased a fictional time traveling car project titled “Flux” (as in Flux Capacitor).

Also, at a Google+ Hangout, White House Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation, Tom Kalil, discussed time travel.

PayPal stretched for a connection, putting together a short video about Back to the Future stuff that starts with the letter “P.”

The White House got in on the action too:

Outclassing the White House was newly-minted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Apple’s Siri also got in the spirit, joking about your hover car even as Burger King (France) produced a “hover tray.”

USA Today published a special edition celebrating Back to the Future Day, a natural tie-in as the newspaper made a prominent appearance in the original film. Of all of the future predictions made by the 1989 film, maybe that USA Today would be the nation’s dominant print newspaper is the most amazing. In an age when the internet is destroying print, USA Today’s circulation—only seven years old when Back to the Future 2 came out—now tops the nation.

Grab your brick hoverboard and guitar and save the world as Marty in Lego’s new Dimensions Back to the Future pack.

Other shows (Agent Carter) used the day to promote themselves.

Police forces worldwide seemed to have a fun time with Back to the Future Day.

Politicians couldn’t resist either:

But wait, there’s more! An A to Z of Brands to the Future today includes airlines, banks, tourist boards, sports teams and toilet paper brands —

With all the Back to the Future tie-in marketing excitement you can almost hear Taco Bell trying not to explode as it waits patiently for Aug. 3, 2032.

Not familiar with it? That’s the date when “Demolition Man” Sylvester Stallone leads Taco Bell won the Franchise Wars and is the nation’s only remaining restaurant.

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