J.J. Sedelmaier has taken the wacky sensibility of the SNL TV Funhouse spots (AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO and X-PRESIDENTS among others) and hit the links. In a cross-media marketing campaign for golf footwear and accessories company Footjoy, J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, via agency Arnold Worldwide in Boston, has created the "Golf Gods," who will be featured in four 30-second animated commercials as well as print ads, posters and on the Footjoy Website. The first spot, "Call To Arms," introduces viewers to the Golf Gods, professional golfers who gained their super powers after "an over zealous groundskeeper mistakenly exposed the earth’s core," thereby exposing the Footjoy gear to "an excess dose of magma radiation transforming all who used the effected equipment into super-hero like figures." To convert Footjoy’s pro golf endorsers into animated superheroes the studio designed the caricatures of the pros in a '60s superhero cartoon style without going overboard with details. "We put them in similarly absurd, over-the-top situations to elevate their characters and the whole game of golf into this godlike dimension," said Sedelmaier. "We even washed out the color and added film grain." Sedelmaier also crafted the foes of the Golf Gods -- Old Man Carruthers, the ghoulish greenskeeper; Gale Monster, a storm cloud that threatens to stop the heroes’ golf round; and Dr. Dimples, the victim of an unfortunate visit to a used golf ball refurbisher. The Golf Gods spots and a poster offer appear on the Footjoy Website and will be featured in three full-page print ads in golf magazines. Sedelmaier also designed a Footjoy trading card set, and there is talk of an action figure line. This is the second time Sedelmaier has produced a retro-like work for Arnold, whose Volkswagen "Speed Racer" spot garnered endless awards several years ago. "I have to credit agency creatives Ron Harper and Grady Winch, who really 'got it,' and ran with the style that makes this stuff so funny," said Sedelmaier.

Watch all four Golf Gods spots online now at Footjoy.com.