Warner Bros. Takes 'Cat in the Hat' Across Amazon's $82 Billion Ad Machine

Amazon Ads expects $82.07 billion in ad revenue this year, and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation just bought a bigger slice of it to launch "The Cat in the Hat."

The studio's multichannel campaign, titled "Open to Fun," promotes the film's theatrical release on Nov. 6, according to a press release. It runs through Nov. 8 and spans an Amazon Brand Store Page, placements across Prime Video, IMDb, Alexa and Twitch, plus home screen placements and Alexa audio ads.

Amazon's Brand Innovation Lab built the campaign's centerpiece: a mobile minigame accessed through a desktop QR code. Players catch a Thing — the chaotic creatures at the heart of the Dr. Seuss story — by tilting their phone.

What does the campaign include?

The effort leans on several interactive formats, per the release:

• A mobile minigame built by the Brand Innovation Lab
• Alexa experiences, including "Cat-ffirmations" and "Cat in the Hat Jokes"
• A custom Brand Store Page on desktop and mobile with exclusive content, trailers and ticket purchasing
• Paid placements across Prime Video, IMDb, Alexa, Twitch and home screens

Bill Hader, who voices the titular cat, recorded lines for the minigame and the two Alexa interactions. Players get a "How to Play" overlay, a countdown and a 10-second warning before time runs out. Catch a Thing, and a glowing box animation plus a score pulse appears on screen.

Why is Warner Bros. pushing interactivity?

The studio has placed a special focus on interactive marketing for the film. Last week it integrated "Cat in the Hat" modules into three popular Roblox games. Like the Amazon minigame, those activations centered on chaotic fun and used the Thing characters.

The timing matters. November is a crowded movie lineup, and Warner Bros. wants the film to stand out. Interactive formats give audiences something to do rather than just watch, and Amazon's ecosystem puts that activity in front of shoppers, streamers and Alexa households at once.

"The Cat in the Hat" marks Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's first full-length feature since the unit rebranded from Warner Animation Group in 2023. The studio has a second Dr. Seuss adaptation, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!", slated for March 17, 2028.

Amazon's Brand Innovation Lab builds campaigns integrated across Amazon properties including Fire TV, Alexa, Prime Video and Twitch. In May, Liquid I.V. worked with the lab on a campaign tied to the Prime Video show "Off Campus."

The lab's parent ranks as the third-largest advertiser by revenue after Google and Meta, with that $82.07 billion projection for this year. With a second Seuss film arriving in 2028, Warner Bros.' Amazon playbook could become a repeatable launch template rather than a one-off stunt.