With the release of , various organizations and pop culture figures have used the game for promotional purposes, proving how popular the game is. The most recent example of this came when an NFL team ဣused the game to announce their schedule for the upcoming NFL season.
In a video posted to the Detroit Lions' Twitter page, the NFL team took creative screenshots to display the dates on wh💯ich the Lions will face teams like the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, and Green Bay Packers.
The video can be seen below.
The video begins with the familiar New Horizons title screen, only with the teꦕxt "Detroit Lions." The camera pans down to Tom Nook, who, as in the Switch release, stands in the middওle of the island at a microphone making an announcement. As in the style of the video, Tom Nook uses his announcement to preface the schedule for the Detroit Lions.
The video then 🎃centers around a villager donning the outfit of a Detroit Lions fan with a light blue tinge. Cleverly, the villager goes around performing in-game actions with references to other teams, followed by a screenshot showing the dates on which the Lions will face the team in reference. For instance, the villager first comes across a giant teddy bear and proceeds 🌸to bury it in a nearby hole. The logo for the Chicago Bears then appears, with text that states the Lions will be facing them on September 13.
The video then shows the villager and a companion, both Lions fans, with bug nets who spot another villager in Packers' gear. The Lions fans then go up to Green Bay Packer fan﷽ and start lightly attacking him with their bug nets.
The remainder of the video throws shade at the ot🦋her teams the Detroit Lions are set to face in ౠsimilar fashion.
The endearing humor of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, combined with using references to the opposing teams, is a pretty unique strategy. The Lions are smart to capitalize on the massive popularity of New Horizons, showing that 🦹they are plugged in with the culture that tentatively crosses with their own vieඣwers.
We'll see if other NFL teams follow suit with similar ann𒅌ouncemen🐻ts.