What it had to solve
A Postseason promo toolkit built on Sia's 'Unstoppable', with driving typographic overlays — 'Uncommon', 'Unexpected', 'Unforgettable', 'Unbelievable' — set against macro backplates.
The idea
Shoot baseball's split seconds — flying grass, closing mitts, swiping hands — at ultra-high frame rates so fans experience the Postseason from the player's POV.
How it works
Macro elements shot on a Phantom camera at ultra-high frame rates for the slowest motion without sacrificing resolution; game footage juxtaposed against macro shots; a flexible toolkit let MLB update promos on the fly, rolling out ten team-specific spots plus nightly tune-ins through October.
What it did
Ran across ESPN, FS1, FOX, MLB Network and TBS, Spanish partners CNN en Español, ESPN Deportes and FOX Deportes, plus international TV partners; no ratings figures reported.
Background
For the 2016 Postseason, Major League Baseball called on creative solutions company Oishii Creative to produce a graphics toolkit for its promotional campaign, produced with MLB Network and driven by Sia's multi-platinum track 'Unstoppable'. The concept was perspective: bring fans onto the field to feel the Postseason from the players' side. 'We wanted to capture the moments — those split seconds — that could decide whether a club's season is over or it's moving another step toward the World Series,' explained chief creative officer Ismael Obregon.
The visual language came from the game's margins: images of flying grass as outfielders raced for deep-field outs, catchers closing mitts around inning-ending strikes, and hands swiping across home plate to steal the winning run. Oishii shot the macro elements on a Phantom camera at ultra-high frame rates, capturing extreme slow motion without losing resolution — low-lit, stylised, yet unmistakably Major League Baseball — creating backplates for typography built on the 'Unstoppable' concept.
The deliverable was built for a rolling tournament: a flexible promo toolkit letting MLB make on-the-fly updates, ten team-specific spots for whichever clubs reached the Postseason, nightly tune-ins through October, and hundreds of versions across MLB's TV partners — ESPN, FS1, FOX, MLB Network and TBS in English; CNN en Español, ESPN Deportes and FOX Deportes in Spanish; plus international partners.
Why it lands
The Postseason's drama lives in split seconds, so extreme slow motion literalises what decides a season.
A player's-eye macro view differentiates from every highlight package cut from the same broadcast footage.
Sia's 'Unstoppable' gave the typographic system its voice — four 'Un-' words carrying the underdog-to-hero arc.
A toolkit with hundreds of variants matched a tournament whose teams, and storylines, change weekly.
What you can take
Design the toolkit, not the spot: one flexible system with a hundred versions beats one perfect ad for a season-long event.
Since then
The campaign rolled out through October 2016 across MLB's English, Spanish and international broadcast partners; LBB's report carried no viewership results.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE