Pinkifying Movie Promotion (Preview)

“Anyways, I'm here to give you this.” Steve held up his hand, JD now noticing he was holding something in it. It was a lanyard with a badge attached to it. “You forgot to take one when you clocked in.”

“Oh, thank you.” JD took it and looked at it. He suddenly felt very, very strange about it. It was bright pink with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” woven into it. The badge itself was pink with a red border. Its picture showed some standard promotional artwork of Amy the Hedgehog.

Before he could ask, Steve answered him. “Yeah, that's part of our company's special promotion for Sonic 3. Something the heads came up with and want all of our employees to wear. I got one too.” He reached for his pocket and then went to his other. “Somewhere.”

JD looked at the badge again, staring at Amy's smiling face. I don't think she's even in the movie.

Of course, he couldn't be sure about that. He hadn't seen the movie yet and was avoiding online spoilers as best as he could. He'd have to see it after work, so for now, what did he really know?

“Are there any Sonic or Shadow ones left?” JD decided to ask.

“Sorry. Only one character per employee, and those were given out last night to people working then.” That was a weird choice to JD. When they had Inside Out 2, every emotion had multiple badges available.

However, it wasn't really his place to argue about this or pursue further. It wasn't really that big of a deal anyway. So what if he didn't understand this promo or the order from the top? He'd go with it regardless.

“Alright then.” JD placed the lanyard on the counter and pointed over to the other items there. “Anything to know about those?”

“Sure. Everyone seeing Sonic 3 gets a poster, but the keychains are only for kids. Don't give them away to anyone else.” JD nodded. It was probably a rule for dealing with scalpers and oddballs. Those people always ruined things for kids.

“Alright, that's everything! I'm heading back upstairs to find my badge. Call me if you need anything.” Steve gave him a nod and left the box office, closing the door behind him.

JD nodded, if only to himself, and returned to getting set up. He logged into the terminal and checked the time on. 9:30 AM. It's showtime.

Well, here we go! JD slipped the lanyard over his head, resting the badge on the center of his chest so it wouldn't cover his nametag. He took a deep breath and opened the box office window out into the mall.

He would not have to wait long. His first customer showed up less than a minute later. He was in his thirties if JD had to guess. He had scruffy hair and facial hair, wearing rather thick glasses. The man looked like a stereotype of a neckbeard.

Didn't see him out there. He's fast. He blinked his eyes once, then twice. On the third time, there was a sparkle in them. The dullish hazel had brightened in a vibrant light green.

“Good morning!” JD greeted him pleasantly. “What are we seeing today?”

“One for Sonic 3,” the guy bluntly said, not adding anything else. It wasn't an unexpected choice given it was the first film starting, and he had that certain “feel” to him.

JD punched in the ticket option on the terminal and opened the auditorium seating. “Now, take a look at this.” He directed the man's attention over to the other screen that was facing outward and showed the seating. “Where would you like to sit? White is open and gray is taken.”

The man leaned in and looked closely at the screen behind the window. After a moment, he said something. What it was, JD did not know. His voice suddenly felt so far away and quiet.

The customer wasn't talking quietly. Something had changed with JD's ears. Everything was shifting with them, their shape and innards. They pulled both into wide-ish triangles and moved up to the top of his head. Short pink fur sprouted on the back and sides of it, light, peach-ish fuzz on the insides.

As his glasses magically adjusted to fit and stay firm on his face, JD asked, “Could you repeat that sir? I didn't catch that.” His own voice seemed far away as well, but after his ears settled into their new form, it came back in total clarity.

“I said, I'll take Seat F7.” The guy's voice came in clear now too. He looked back at JD, seeming annoyed that he had to repeat himself. However, he flinched the moment he saw the boxer's ears.

“Something wrong?”

“Ah… nothing…” The guy stared at him oddly as he handed over his credit card to pay.

“Okay then… it's $10.28.” What's his problem? Too early to start like this. JD frowned internally as he ran the credit card through on the payment page.

As he waited for that to be processed, his short blond hair shook like a breeze went through it. Pink highlights and streaks ran through it. Some of the bangs on his forehead rose, growing longer and pulling into curved spikes.

“…heard about this… …last night… …people online talking about it.” The man started muttering, JD only picking up bits and pieces of it.

“Are you talking to me?” JD asked, handing the card back.

“No, it's nothing.” The guy quickly replied, taking his card back. Again, he was being weird to JD.