News Six Flags Introduces the Funsultant & Funtern

[Zachary]

Looks like the newly-merged Six Flags has introduced their latest mascots: the "Funsultant" and the "Funtern."

Six Flags Gets ‘Serious About Fun.’ In the Silliest Way | Muse by Clios

Per TMA's latest for Six Flags, "Funsultants" get to hang round amusement parks, soak up rays, shout through megaphones and make sure everyone's entertained.

musebyclios.com

My first impression of the campaign is that I'm pretty disappointed to be honest. I understand that they want to create material that they can use chainwide, but I would have much preferred that they create a chainwide "framework" that they could slot park-specific language and B-roll into. These ads feel painfully uninspired and wholly generic.

Maybe I'm being too nitpicky, but frankly, at a time when many people's local, beloved parks are being merged into this new Six Flags mega-chain, playing around with this business consultant joke feels a bit... out of touch. Now more than ever I suspect people want to see each park's unique tone capitalized upon. Will these ads remind people their local Six Flags exists? Yeah—and maybe that's all the marketing department set out to do—and maybe that's fine. In competitive markets though, these ads provide zero reason to go to the parks being advertised beyond "it's an amusement park" and "it has an old, shaky roller coaster."

Maybe my bar is too high, but I would have hoped that the inaugural advertising campaign for the merged chain would have brought something more to the table than the absolute bare minimum.

 

[warfelg]

This ad campaign makes me almost not want to go there.

 

[The Master]

Watching those ads raises two questions. First what did I do to deserve these assaults to my senses? Second will I ever feel joy again after viewing them?

 

[SweetBabyJames]

I agree, they are very simple commercials. I also would have liked opportunities for b-rolls of individual parks too. But hey, I guess California's Great America really gets some time in the sun before peace'ing out forever.

 

[MusicEnlightens]

I honestly love them. They have the campiness of the great "Mr. Six" marketing campaign, but seem very intentional and not just thrown together either. Sometimes campaigns like this can be very cringe hoping that if you pile on enough jokes, you hope that just one of them sticks, but I'm not feeling that way with this so far.

I agree with the need for local B-roll flair and talking points, but I think that will come in future years. To get a coherent/consistent marketing campaign together so quickly after the merger is pretty astonishing to me. Heck, the chain itself is still very separated, with different monikers, websites, apps, and meal plan add-ons. I think over the next season or two as those things continue to merge into one brand entity, the marketing will only strengthen.

I also think the chain is in the process of discovering many of the park's identities in the first place, so as some of the closed rides get replaced in coming years, food and retail shops continue to be renovated, live entertainment supported, and merchandise strengthened, there will be more opportunity to let each park advertise what makes IT unique from competitors, and within the chain itself. Give it a little time.

 

[halfabee]

I'm fine with it. The campaign does feel traditional-TV oriented and a bit anachronistic. Maybe it would have been better suited to appear years ago and fill in the considerable vacuum created by the departure of the Mr. Six campaign. But in an era of austerity at the new Six Flags, a one-size-fits-all-markets campaign should be the expectation -- even in the wake of the merger, IMO.

Post-Super Bowl viewer surveys historically show the public appreciating many of the more bland and derivative commercials that air in America's most expensive ad slots. If that tendency is somewhat representative of public taste in ads as a whole, then bringing into the world yet another irreverent portmanteau-driven light humor campaign may be a solid choice in a sea of imperfect options.