KBO teams cross brand with popular characters for merchandise

LG Twins announced Friday its merchandise collaboration with the hit webtoon "Maru is a Puppy." Courtesy of Naver Webtoon

Professional baseball teams in Korea are teaming up with popular characters from domestic cartoons and animations to draw a broader audience to their games.

The latest example of this trend is the LG Twins’ new official merchandise collaboration with the hit webtoon “Maru is a Puppy” by Mojo, which Naver Webtoon announced Friday.

This partnership is the first of its kind between a digital comic intellectual property (IP) and a KBO team.

Revolving around the daily adventures of a poodle mix named Maru, who miraculously turns into a 5-year-old girl, and her owner Woori, the feel-good weekly webtoon series has garnered a significant following since its release in June 2022, both on and off smartphone screens.

As a result of its popularity and cultural impact, three Maru-themed pop-up stores were organized last year at Starfield COEX Mall, The Hyundai Seoul and Shinsegae Centum City in Busan, each achieving record sales and attendance and setting new benchmarks for webtoon pop-up shops.

Baseball fans can purchase merchandise featuring the iconic webtoon character Maru, such as jerseys, caps, balls, bats and headbands from Aug. 27. Courtesy of Naver Webtoon

Starting Aug. 27, fans can purchase merchandise featuring the iconic webtoon character, such as jerseys, caps, balls, bats and headbands — many of which are essential accessories for Korea’s distinct baseball cheering routines.

Other KBO teams have also jumped on the bandwagon, collaborating with characters with a huge following from animations, emojis and social media comics.

These partnerships include “Manggeureojin Gom (Broken Bear)” with the Doosan Bears, the dinosaur-themed “Joguman” with the NC Dinos and the Japanese manga series “Crayon Shin-chan” with the Lotte Giants, all introduced this year alone.