Just How Much Do You Want to Play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?
Right now, a YouTuber is already finishing up their draft for a new skit revolving Target’s brave and foolhardy decision to transforms its shopping carts into Mario Karts to celebrate Switch’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launch on April 28th. This latest marketing gimmick will no doubt cut through the noise and grab headlines from a lot of press outlets, but will the Target’s marketing execs be there at the ground level to witness the upcoming carnage they have unleashed onto their stores? And, is it fair to the wide-eyed new cashier who must suddenly contend with 8 overly-caffeinated grown people with Go-Pros driving the Mario Karts wildly through the aisles?
Here’s more info on this marketing madness, shopping carts will be turned into “Super Target Karts” with the likeness of Mario, Luigi, and Peach in 650 stores across North America for the next few weeks. Aside from that, shoppers will be welcomed into the stores with the Super Mario Bros. theme song after walking past the checkered start line at the store entrance. The Mario Kart mania even extends outside the store with Target transforming those two big red balls outside the entrance into creepy Mario and Luigi heads. So if you feel like having a gaming-related story to share with friends, come to the Target stores soon and grab Mario Kart 8 Deluxe while sidestepping someone cosplaying as DryBones in a Super Target Kart.
Let’s also not forget that Target is a shopping store full of everyday items ripe for simulating the power-ups found in Mario Kart. A no-brainer here, you can easily toss a banana onto the floor if you pass by the fruit section. Need some of that Blooper’s screen-covering ink? Well, just find a bottle of soy sauce or even better — Sriracha. And, I’m pretty sure Red Bull is the real world equivalent to Mushroom’s speed boost. If you’re going all in, consider combining a stun gun with a gallon of water to simulate that annoying Lighning power-up. As for Blue Shells? Well, that’s where the scared-for-their-lives Target employees come in: there’s a good chance, afterall, they will prioritize in chasing after the fastest racer there.
It certainly doesn’t help that we still have the DGAF-attitude about car physics, Fate of the Furious, in theaters and still fresh in the public’s conscious collective. And, “Witness Me!” is still a viable pop culture phrase too.
All the best to Target employees and other shoppers, who are just trying to get some more toilet paper, and escape with their lives in the next few weeks.