Bautista Streams by the Stream as ‘The Streamer’

by Rebecca Kaplan · July 31, 2021

In a new campaign casting off yesterday, Dave Bautista made his debut as The Streamer, a spokesperson for the new Disney streaming bundle that includes access to Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu for $13.99 per month, and with an ad-free Hulu for $19.99 per month.

https://twitter.com/TheStreamer/status/1420187534819164163?s=20

The Streamer

After Bautista streamed three hours of river footage on Twitter, he made his debut as The Streamer, a mascot for a streaming bundle that apparently already exists.

By the way, I call these my streamojis:#TheDisneyBundle #DisneyBundle #TheDisneyBundleStreamer #DisneyBundleStreamer #TheStreamer

— The Streamer (@TheStreamer) July 28, 2021

The saga of The Streamer began on July 26th, 2021, after the official Disney+ Twitter account promoted a new, verified account titled The Streamer.

👀 @TheStreamer 👀 pic.twitter.com/7fkZ5opprb

— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) July 26, 2021

Then, the following day, on July 27th, 2021, The Streamer account started streaming footage of a running river, which went on for three hours until Bautista, who plays Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, finally debuted as “The Streamer” in the new ad for the Disney Bundle.

Where does The #DisneyBundle LiveSTREAM lead? To #TheStreamer, of course! Stay tuned. https://t.co/O0O2QSDX5R

— The Streamer (@TheStreamer) July 27, 2021

In the new Disney bundle advertisement, Bautista’s The Streamer sits on a calm river as he muses about his favorite streaming series owned by the Mouse, including The Mandalorian (Disney+), Modern Family (Hulu), and Love, Victor (Hulu).

Reaction to The Streamer

In response to the initial tweet from The Streamer account, the official Twitter accounts of other Disney-owned entertainment companies responded, including Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+.

The Hulu account tweeted, “This is what streams are made of.”

This is what streams are made of 😏

— Hulu (@hulu) July 27, 2021

Then, Disney+ responded with an incredibly dorky pun that would make Drax proud, “A stream come true.”

A stream come true. 🏞✨

— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) July 27, 2021

And finally, ESPN+ said, “The Dream Stream, Stream,” which was tweeted out alongside one of the new 100% Soft emojis of The Streamer.

The Dream Stream, Stream #DisneyBundle

— ESPN+ (@ESPNPlus) July 27, 2021

New Disney Bundle

The marketing campaign for the streaming-bundle was met with mixed reaction in the entertainment industry, at least according CBR:

The ad raised eyebrows across the streaming business world, as the Disney Bundle is not a new service and has been available since Disney+ launched in November 2019. It is unclear what Disney has planned for Bautista’s character or the account, which currently has 11,600 follows.

However, despite the sour grapes reaction from the media, the social media mystery worked wonders on fans, who were clamoring to figure out what the cryptic tweets were about, with the account racking up more than 15,000 followers.