Mario Day

Mario Day (also written as Mar10 Day ) is an annual celebration of the entire Mario franchise. It takes place on March 10th each year because the date, written as "Mar10", looks like "Mario". The holiday could be celebrated by dressing up as Mario, having a Mario-themed party, or simply playing Mario games, among others. Although the holiday was not created nor declared by Nintendo, the day was unofficially celebrated by most Mario fans. Since 2016, Nintendo has officially embraced the holiday and started celebrating annually by promoting Mario games and holding Mario-themed events. On an newscast on March 10, 2017, the headline "National Mario Day" was played celebrating Mario Day, where the reporter talked about Mario Day, its name and Mario.

2016
In 2016, Nintendo celebrated the holiday by releasing a video on their official YouTube channel titled "Celebrate Mar. 10 - Mario Day!". The video is about a person in a Mario costume walking around Nintendo's office turning things into Mario-related objects such as turning notepads into Nintendo 3DS systems. The person also adds Mario-related objects to the office such as several Mario plushies to a person's desk.

2017
In 2017, Nintendo celebrated the holiday by adding a free Mario-themed frame to Facebook and the Messenger Camera that could be used from March 10 at 5 a.m. PT until March 12 at 11:59 p.m. PT., by putting several Mario games on sale on Amazon, and by having several My Nintendo rewards for Mario titles such as a 30 percent off discount on Mario Kart 8. They also worked with the by providing new designs for their gowns while making a donation to create 2,000 gowns. A quiz was published this year on the Play Nintendo website in celebration of Mario Day.

2018
In 2018, Nintendo partnered with Google adding Mario in Google Maps, where the user can have Mario drive around in a Pipe Frame. Users had to look for a ? Block next to the start button when the start and destination fields were filled. Nintendo also held an in-game event in Super Mario Run, called "It's All About Mario Event", where all Mario-related items are in fixed appearance rates in Super Bonus Game. At the same time, Nintendo offered a special 50% discount for the full game. Several rewards for My Nintendo include the "Mario's Mighty Mustache" 3DS theme.

Special events for Mario Day were held in other Nintendo games. In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, items from the Mario franchise were available to craft for a limited time.

2019
In 2019, Nintendo released a promotion in Europe where buyers who purchased Super Mario Odyssey, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Party, or Mario Tennis Aces between the 8th and 10th of March would receive double Gold Points. In North America Nintendo released several My Nintendo discounts on Mario games, discounted download codes for the games that where included in the My Nintendo promotion in Europe to cost $39.99 from participating retailers , and discounted Nintendo Switch systems with one of five select Mario game to cost $329.98.

Nintendo also released an episode of Nintendo Minute on their official YouTube channel titled "Mar10 Day Character Bracket: Mario’s Enemies - Nintendo Minute". In this video, series' hosts Kit and Krysta rank several Mario enemies based on several categories, such as which would be the most annoying pet. Nintendo of America made a celebratory tweet for the holiday asking how fans will celebrate Mar10 Day. There were also several Mario-related activities that took place at the Nintendo New York store, which were sponsored by Frito-Lay Variety Packs.

The event "It's All About Mario Event" returned in Super Mario Run, and the player were given 10 Rally Tickets as a log-in bonus. In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Mario's hat and outfit were gifted for all players, and several Mario-themed wallpaper and flooring were available for crafting. Several of the furniture from the prior Mario-related event returned, and the Fishing Tourney 12 for the game featured Cheep Cheeps, Eep Cheeps, Cheep Chomps, and Bloopers as catchable fish.

2020
The Mario Bros. Tour in Mario Kart Tour featured Mario and Luigi wearing their Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels outfits, respectively, and ran until the actual Mario Day. Select Mario games had a $20 discount in the US eShop resulting in $39.99 from March 8, 2020 (9:00 a.m. PT) to March 14, 2020 (11:59 p.m. PT), them being Super Mario Maker 2, Super Mario Party, Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and Yoshi's Crafted World. Lego and Nintendo released short videos on their Twitter accounts, teasing a Lego and Mario crossover, which was eventually announced as LEGO Super Mario. Unlike in 2017 and 2018, there was no Mario crossover event with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, likely due to them doing an event focusing on the then-impending release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

2021
Aside from various events relating to the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary event such as those included in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a 35% off sale was held for Super Mario Maker 2, Mario Tennis Aces, Luigi's Mansion 3, and Super Mario Party. The Mario Tour's starting date in Mario Kart Tour also coincides with Mario Day. A special Know Your Nintendo? video was also released that day on the official YouTube channel with five questions (three standard questions and two bonus questions) focusing on the Super Mario series.

2022
The Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Hollywood was announced to open in 2023. Three new LEGO Super Mario sets and a LEGO Princess Peach were also announced. Various games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Luigi's Mansion 3 and its DLC packs, Yoshi's Crafted World, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 also received discounts.

2023
On March 1, a Mario-themed party was held at Nintendo New York, featuring special guests Mario, Luigi, and Ryan Kaji from the channel. Visitors could meet Ryan and play Nintendo Switch games with him. On March 3, Nintendo of America released a song themed around the event as part of a commercial for several Nintendo Switch Mario games. In Mario Kart Tour, the Mario Tour begins on March 7 and ends on March 21, and it runs at the same time as an in-game celebration titled the "Mario event". The final trailer of The Super Mario Bros. Movie premieres in a dedicated Nintendo Direct presentation on March 9, 14:00 PT —in other words, on Mario Day in most countries in the Eastern Hemisphere. Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass DLC pack is set to be released on the same day; both Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass and the aforementioned Mario Tour of Mario Kart Tour introduce Mario Circuit from Mario Kart DS to their respective games. On March 11, select stores will offer visitors free Mario-themed items.

A Nintendo Switch bundle labelled the "Nintendo Switch Mario Choose One Bundle", which includes a The Super Mario Bros. Movie sticker sheet and a full game download for either Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, or Super Mario Odyssey, is set to be released on Mario Day. Select Nintendo Switch games and DLC featuring characters from the Mario franchise will receive digital discounts: the first wave of discounts runs from March 10, 00:00 PT to March 23, 23:59 PT and involve Mario Party Superstars, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Yoshi's Crafted World; the second wave lasts from March 24, 00:00 PT to April 7, 23:59 PT and involve Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Similarly, at select retailers between March 5 and March 11, physical editions of certain Mario games are discounted by up to $20, while Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit sets are discounted by $40.