Another edition of CCXP, the former Comic Con Experience, ends this Sunday (7) showing signs of fatigue. The event, the largest pop culture fair in Latin America, kicked off last Wednesday and brought together thousands of nerds and fans of films, series and comics at the São Paulo Expo in the capital of São Paulo.
Eleven years after establishing itself as a hub for major announcements and the distribution of first-hand material from the most anticipated films and series of the year, CCXP is undergoing a rush of partners. Netflix, which was already responsible for the largest and most coveted panels, did not participate in this edition, leaving a big gap in the calendar.
Universal and Apple followed suit, and Disney announced last-minute attractions but limited its convention center booth to a massive Pixar store offering merchandise at inflated prices.
CCXP is the victim of a world bombarded by consumption and an audiovisual industry that seems lost in marketing strategies and the distribution of its content, in the current situation that mixes journalists and influencers and traditional communication with TikTok dances – as if they were the same thing or served the same objective.
Thus, Netflix prefers to invest in its own Tudum or in more niche activations spread around the world – such as the “One Piece” ship in Rio de Janeiro or the “Stranger Things” parade in São Paulo. Disney has its own convention, D23; Universal brought the talents of “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Wicked: Part 2” here alone, and Apple is still struggling to communicate with Brazilian viewers.
There was room left for Warner Bros. Long-time major partners Discovery, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video, which brought stars from “It: Welcome to Derry,” “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” and “Fallout,” respectively, as well as Nintendo and Crunchyroll, which expanded their participation. Petrobras set up a fun stand showcasing national films – at least those it sponsors – and Josh Safdie and Timothée Chalamet came to promote “Marty Supreme” from Diamond Films.
There was also room for brands that have nothing to do with the pop world: the stands of Banco do Brasil and Sebrae were as big as those of Hollywood studios. Large retailers have also become hyperbolic, reducing space for small sellers.
As a result, queues at meaningful activations grew longer. By early Saturday afternoon, lines for games like those inspired by “The Boys” and “Supergirl” were about an hour and a half long. The “It” haunted house had to wait four hours. Even the Mentos candy stand lasted 50 minutes, plus an informal queue created by the public – a queue to join another queue.
There was also an inexplicable queue to collect event credentials. Journalists, exhibitors and talents were brought together under the same identity check, and it took two hours to finally get their hands on the badges on Wednesday evening. Stuck in a lack of information, helpful employees wore “How can I save the day” T-shirts, unable to keep their promise.
Ironically, this whole context highlights what is at the heart of geek conventions, but which ends up taking a back seat to the megalomania of the big studios: comic book artists and illustrators who exhibit and sell their productions at Artists’ Valley. It was the nicest place to stay, with fewer people, friendly artists, and more affordable prices for more creative items.
Not that this scenario is a specific failure of CCXP. This is a characteristic of this trade show format in general: San Diego Comic Con, the largest of its kind, depends even more on small stores. Perhaps by establishing itself as one of the biggest events on the pop calendar, the Brazilian version simply assimilates the standard profile of these conventions, in a move that is not necessarily welcome, but natural.
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