
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 커뮤니티 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.