In celebration of the release of the new Bumblebee movie in China, JD.com, Paramount Pictures, and Hasbro have teamed up on content and e-commerce experiences to bring the beloved Transformer in the country.
The promotional initiative brings back a previously introduced JD-exclusive character called Red Knight, which was first released in 2017. The partnership has also resulted in the release of three mini shorts revolving around Red Knight. Apart from Jingdong, Paramount, and Hasbro, Chinese menswear brand HLA and Panasonic will also take part in the promotional release.
The Red Knight action figure, which was designed by Hasbro, can be bought on JD.com.
The brands involved in the promotion worked together online and granted fans a special day sale, which they called Super Bumblebee Day earlier in January to mark the release of the Bumblebee movie. The Jingdong website held a sale offering consumers discounts and promos from the brands’ products and delivered them in specially designed Bumblebee boxes and packages. Even the delivery vans were outfitted with Bumblebee-themed designs.
The unification of e-commerce, content, and entertainment is a widely used promotional stint in China. In fact, JD.com’s rival, Alibaba, is also known for such partnerships.
The Return of the Bumblebee
The new Bumblebee movie is set in 1987 on the California coast, two decades before the first Michael Bay film. Hailee Steinfield plays Charlie Watson, a very different character to the Sam Witwicky we’ve gotten used to. Charlie meets Bumblebee the same way Sam did, while looking for her first car.
From the trailer alone, it’s quite hard to understand how a well off teenager ends up with a not so mint 1967 Beetle for her first car, but as fate would have it, she ends up getting more than what she had bargained. Bumblebee still doesn’t talk in this film, so expect lots of action and maybe start working on to improve your deciphering skills.
Charlie and Bumblebee end up becoming best buddies and will battle at least two enemies. In this movie, John Cena plays a bad guy called Agent Burns. He works for Sector 7, the centennial-old secret agency which oversees alien technology and alien encounters. The other enemy flies in the guise of the Decepticon Starscream, appearing more like his first-gen form, similar to the cartoon.
If you check out the IMDb page for the movie, there’s a mention of Barricade and Optimus Prime, so yes, there will be some cameos to watch out for.
There was a seventh Transformers movie in the works, but it was canceled for some reason. However, Paramount reportedly has a franchise reboot in the pipeline that would bring some of the most popular Hasbro toys in a single screen. It’s possible we would see Visionaries, Rom, Micronauts, M.A.S.K., and G.I. Joe mingling soon, but for now, it’s all reports and no confirmation.
What’s sure for now is that Bumblebee has returned and its success will be the determining factor of more Transformers movies to come. It made $58.8 million in China, topping the box office, so that should be our cue.
About JD.com
JD.com, Inc. also known as Jingdong and formerly called 360buy, is a Chinese e-commerce company with headquarters in Beijing. It is China’s largest online retailer, biggest retailer overall, and the country’s most successful Internet-based company by revenue.
Jingdong has set the standard for online shopping in China by delivering authentic and high-quality products, ranging from apparel and fresh food to cosmetics and electronics. The company fulfills orders nationwide and offers same-day and next-day deliveries to more than 1 billion consumers, a service that’s unmatched globally.
