Chapter 289: Progressive October II: To the Future

At the very least, the Creed Costume offerings were out there.

It was going to be hard to compete against all those skeletons, jack-o-lanterns, witches, and those bedsheets with holes in them.

There was no Ruxpin-Hobbes scenario where Creed Costumes will strategically latch unto the eye-catching best-sellers and be best-sellers as well.

Frankly, it wouldn't be anything impressive, but at least it can bring in some steady profits.

It was better than nothing. This was not just some overused idiom since selling costumes is greatly preferred over offering nothing at all.

Alexander wasn't going to be some stubborn Watterson even in something he considered pitiful and silly like costumes.

Fortunately and thankfully, the expected mediocrity of costume sales wasn't exactly the highlight of the Progressive October that he considered it to be.

Alexander had singled out the Back to the Future costumes for a reason. After all, a whole lot of other Back to the Future stuff was going to happen.

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After Stuffed Hobbes, Creed Toys' next selection that was going to be made available were BttF toys.

SDCC 1985 has properly set up a publicity platform for Creed paraphernalia. The whole Creed splash in SDCC has perfectly advertised and also raised the interest of interested parties to the interesting things that were brought up.

In essence, time-travel DeLorean toy cars were going to be the next thing that Creed fans are going to be pining for.

There are character toys as well. It just made sense to assume that Marty and Doc are going to be sought after too.

From the film to costumes to toys, these two ragtag protagonists have really caught the eye of the public.

This time around, the sales of their merchandise weren't going to depend and leech on something like Teddy Ruxpin.

Having a blockbuster movie that is taking over North American theaters should be publicity enough.

No amount of Teddy Ruxpin commercials could amount to the big advertisement of a successful and theatrically running film.

After all, 'Back to the Future' was so successful that despite only being in theaters for about 3 or 4 months... film-lovers were actually planning to organize some sort of special day for it.

Of course, it was quickly hijacked by Creed Pictures and Creed Entertainment as a whole.

As for what this event is- it's tentatively called Back to the Future Day.

BttF may have been released to the public on 'July 3, 1985' but the 26th of October 1985 seems more fitting to be the film's true inauguration.

If one were to look closely at the dates on Doc Brown's time machine, it can be seen that Marty McFly first drove Doc's time-traveling DeLorean on 'October 26, 1985' at the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall. Later called Lone Pines Mall due to Marty's event-changing shenanigans.

With a sync between fan requests and a needed film publicity plan, the whole BttF Day became a real thing.

Publicizing that Lone or Twin Pine Mall was actually filmed at Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, California... pieces fell into place from there.

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This eventually led a group of fans to show up at Puente Hills Mall on October 26, 1985. These were the avid BttF fans that were hoping to see if Marty or Doc Brown would appear in the famous souped-up DeLorean.

There's a chance that the story may be real after all.

Well, this was the gullibility that Alexander, Creed Pictures, along with Puente Hills Mall were hoping for.

In partnership with the mall, Creed Entertainment had prepared a kiosk and mall-centric event of sorts.

BttF stuff was ever-present and BttF character toys with DeLorean toys were the ones to look out for.

A lot of people were actually in the Halloween season early since people in lab coats and Marty attire were plentiful in the mall. It didn't help that BttF costumes were made available in this mall as well.

To top it off, T-shirts with BttF prints were being sold exclusively in the mall for this day only. This made people wonder why these cool T-shirts weren't available anywhere else but it also made their trip somehow worthwhile.

To make their trip and dedication even more worthwhile, at the freakishly mortifying time of 1:00 AM... and at the general area in the mall's parking lot... fanfare had arrived in the form of a souped-up DeLorean.

It may not have blazing wheels as it rode slowly but as soon as it stopped and the winged doors opened up... these dedicated fans were excited!

Christopher Lloyd in his Doc Brown persona stepped out and there was also Tiger in his Einstein guinea pig set-up.

It was obvious that the force of propaganda and publicity was strong in this one... however most of those involved were satisfied at the end of it.

Although the same can't be said for those BttF fans that missed out, they were the ones that felt regret when the news reported about the whole 'BttF Day' event.

The frustratingly exclusive T-shirts were one thing but Doc Brown and Einstein actually riding the "DeLorean" must have been awesome! A chance at taking pictures with characters, taking home autographs, and a chance at riding the film prop was something to be cherished.

These regretful BttF lovers could only soothe their hearts by watching the film or buying BttF toys.

For their soothing convenience, it can be watched and bought from theaters and toy stores near them!

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Back to the Future gained another rise in momentum with that... but its effect had pretty much settled on the North American market.

Of course, it was more than enough to form momentum overseas. This domestic pat on the back was needed for the global journey that the film was going to take.

After all, Progressive October wasn't just BttF-focused because of what October 26th meant for the story.

This October was actually the month in which the time-traveling flick was scheduled to be released in cinemas outside the States.

The release dates may be sporadic in those countries and regions, however, it is fortunate that there are world premieres to correspond the whole global movement to.

A so-called BttF world premiere happened in London and Michael J. Fox was the focus in this one.

While Doc Brown was responsible for the North American market's special re-rousing... Marty McFly was in charge of the global one.

As it turns out, the royal family seems to have gotten wind of the film that took the States by storm and wanted to join in on the fun.

A certain Princess Diana of Wales was there and had been seated beside Fox.

It was a story that wouldn't be publicized in a while... but Fox really wanted to go to the bathroom yet the screening already started.

He also wasn't too used to royal protocols and was afraid to embarrass himself.

The poor actor had to hold his pee back for the entire feature film showing while Princess Diana was reacting to said film right beside him.

Sitting beside royalty like Princess Diana was great and all but it was kind of agonizing for Fox's bladder.

Aside from the secret pee premiere issues, the film's world premiere was a considerable success and others will get to know what Back to the Future is all about!

Creed Pictures' first film project should be on its way to taking the world by storm.

Aside from costumes, it was clear that October has a lot of spotlights directed at Back to the Future.

A special "day" for itself. An entire month of Back to the Future expansion. Then, a progressive initiative wherein it could pretty much spread out to the rest of the world.

Things can't get anything better than that and Alexander's Progressive October agenda was all about moving forward to the future of Back to the Future.