It’s easy to forget now, but kids’ movies used to be accompanied by some very weird promotional campaigns. You may remember calling cartoon characters on the phone or fooling around with the Space Jam website. Well, the Super Mario Bros. Movie brings these old tricks to the modern day.
Don’t worry; we’ll hold off on the spoilers. A van in the Super Mario Bros. Movie features the phone number and website for Super Mario Bros. Plumbing. If you call the phone number (929-55-MARIO), you can hear a prerecorded message from Luigi. You can also text this number to join a mailing list, although you must pretend that you’re suffering from a “plumbing emergency.” (I’d also like to point out that 929 is a New York area code.)
If that’s not enough fun, the smbplumbing.com website is its own mess of jokes, references, and world-building. It does a great job mimicking a real business website, with CAPTCHA, testimonials, broken images (which may be an accident), and a few job openings.
I strongly suggest visiting the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing website and calling 929-55-MARIO, especially if you have kids. It’s a fun way to spend 10 or 15 minutes, and it won’t spoil the movie.
