How Back To The Future Made Everyone Love The Cubs

Back in the late 1980s , the Back to the Future movie series took hold as everyone's favorite nerdy older brother, Alex P. Keaton (or Michael J. Fox), transformed into Marty McFly, the central figure in a movie trilogy that grossed nearly a billion dollars.

One the most famous scenes in the second movie of the series sends present day (1989) McFly into the future (2015) looking at a hologram of the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in 2015.

REMINDER: 'Back to the Future II' predicted the @Cubs would win the 2015 #WorldSeries... #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/JoGwJalp0S

— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 14, 2015

Amazingly, the movie, which was released in 1989, has the chance to be proven correct. The Chicago Cubs are in the Major League Playoffs for the first time in eight years and with the Back To The Future coincidence fresh in everyone's minds, the Cubs have become America's team. The fact that they haven't won a World Series since 1908 helps as America is known to be a country that loves to pull for the underdog.

And better believe, as the groundswell of support enraptures the Cubs, they have taken full advantage of the opportunity through their social media channels. Remember, I always talk about engagement with sports and fans and social media platforms are the best way to do so. Sometimes, however, it isn't the fans, its their own players who do all the talking that needs to be done.

Li and Bernoff went in depth in chapter ten about how Twitter can be your best vehicle to discover new contest and be your best way to spread your brand image through word of mouth.

First, the wife of  Cubs reliever Travis Wood shares her experience of being on the field with her husband after a win:

Oh my word!!! NLCS, let's go!!!!!! #WeAreGood #FlyTheW‌ pic.twitter.com/mErMcpPVPX

— Brittany Wood (@bwz428) October 14, 2015

How about Anthony Rizzo, star first baseman, sharing the moment his worked so hard for with the people who have been by his side the longest, his parents:

Mama we made it #WEAREGOOD #NLDS #LETSGO @Cubs pic.twitter.com/qeTUOizaGB

— Anthony Rizzo (@ARizzo44) October 14, 2015

But in the end, its about the fans, the fans, the fans.

Elation. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/73efrXHkA8

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 14, 2015

So when co-creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis crafted part two of this series did they not it would have this far reaching effect so many years later? Probably not. That hasn't stopped Cubs fans and now the groundswell of casual fans from latching on hoping that a movie made nearly 30 years ago could have been the catalyst to help push the Cubs over the top?

At this point, the jury on whether the Cubs win the World Series is still out but if your a fan of Chicago's North Side team, odds are you are willing to grab onto any glimmer of hope. After all, you have been waiting for this to happen since 1908.