WrestleMania brand integration to include a ‘blurring of the fourth wall’

We know how important sponsorship deals are to WWE, and how they sell them to partners by promising to integrate their products into the show with things like Royal Rumble’s Mtn Dew Pitch Black Match.

We also know that WrestleMania 39 will feature “Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cinnamojis” in some form or fashion.

But wait! There’s more!

WWE Senior Vice-President and Head of Global Sales & Partnerships Craig Stimmel, the man who told us about the Cinnamon Toast Crunch deal, was interviewed by APNews this week. He says the cereal characters are just one of several integrations WWE is doing for this week’s two-day event at SoFi Stadium:

Stimmel said WWE will incorporate corporate brands into this year’s WrestleMania in a multitude of ways, including a match sponsorship, a “blurring of the fourth wall” between what home viewers see vs. what live audience members observe and an augmented reality experience.

It doesn’t seem like Craig knows what “the fourth wall” means (as with “literally” and “ironic”, it may be time to raise the white flag in the definition vs. common usage battle there). But maybe he does and a Cinnamoji will stop mid-segment to talk to those of us streaming the show on Peacock about the importance of corporate synergy. That’s about as good a guess as I can come up with for what he means. Looking forward to that AR, though!

Like most viewers, an ironic joke or two is probably the only reaction I’ll really have to these marketing tie-ins. As T. Maxwell, a sports marketing consultant quoted in the AP story says:

“I think WWE fans are much more accepting of (sponsors) than the traditional sports.”

Which is good, because WWE’s identified these kinds of partnerships as a revenue source (the AP report says “sponsorship revenue for this year’s event [WrestleMania 39] has doubled to more than $20 million, a record for any WWE event”) and a way to differentiate themselves from competitors.

At least Stimmel says WWE tries “to find the perfect marriage of brand and story” for each of their sponsors*.

* I think that’s sarcasm, but I’ll be honest... I don’t even know any more. If I ever did.