Identifying Shark Week as an online phenomenon falling squarely within The Bad Guys 2 social campaign window, we conquested the natural and timely cultural moment to celebrate our very own Mr. Shark with an unexpected, ownable twist.
Shark Week served as a natural ignition point to strengthen and spark ongoing fan engagement around The Bad Guys 2 leading up to its theatrical release. This time, it would be Mr. Shark Week!
Leaning into his surprisingly convincing “master of disguise” ability, we developed a series of graphic artworks to be released throughout the week, using the Universal and DreamWorks Animation catalog as our canvas.
We set out to activate a larger fandom on a global level, maximize the impact of our collective social reach, and capitalize on a cultural moment to create a timely opportunity to steal the spotlight and center online attention on The Bad Guys crew.
Living at the intersection of entertainment and design craft, we created a social-first graphic art series, reimagining iconic Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation posters (from Shrek to Bridesmaids to How to Train Your Dragon and more) with the addition of Mr. Shark as the “master of disguise,” a signature trait from the film. Each piece transformed a legacy film poster with Mr. Shark seamlessly disguised within while also remaining true to the original design intentions.
Distribution was designed to maximize organic crossover reach and amplification. The series launched across Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, and TikTok, with posts shared by The Bad Guys official accounts alongside DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures, and franchise-specific handles. Coordinating across multiple legacy IPs, social amplification and collaborations expanded reach to larger fandoms. The campaign was also localized and launched internationally in key markets including Mexico, Brazil, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Korea, extending the conversation globally.
Mr. Shark Week sparked immediate and sustained fan conversation, transforming the graphic art series into a participatory social game. As the week unfolded, thousands of fans leaned in, pretending they couldn’t spot Mr. Shark because of his “too good” disguise, commenting with hilarious reactionary GIFs and praising the marketing campaign. Each day, users vocally requested more content and predicted which film he might appear in next.
Mr. Shark Week successfully built enthusiastic excitement for The Bad Guys 2 on a global scale. The organic series generated more than 12 million views and half a million social engagements across platforms. The series culminated at week of release, creating the perfect heist to get fans into theaters.
