Doug Bowser
Doug Bowser | |
|---|---|
 Bowser at Nintendo New York in May 2023 | |
| 4th President of Nintendo of America | |
| Assumed office April 15, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Reggie Fils-Aimé |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Doug Spencer Bowser August 11, 1965 New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Utah (BA) |
| Signature |  |
Doug Spencer Bowser (born August 11, 1965) is an American businessman, currently serving as the president of Nintendo of America, the North American branch of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. He succeeded Reggie Fils-Aimé as president in 2019, having previously worked for Procter & Gamble and Electronic Arts.
Early career
[edit]Doug Spencer Bowser[1] was born on August 11, 1965,[2][3] in Upstate New York.[4] Bowser graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1984,[5][6] going on to work at Procter & Gamble from 1984 to 2007, which included serving as the director of customer marketing for the Latin American region from 1998 to 2004, and the company's Safeway customer team from 2004 to 2007. Bowser worked at Electronic Arts from 2007 through 2015, serving as vice president of global demand planning.[7][8][5]
Nintendo
[edit]Bowser joined Nintendo of America in 2015 as the vice president of sales and marketing, and was promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing in mid-2016, where he oversaw the promotion and release of the Nintendo Switch within North America.[9][10]
In February 2019, Nintendo of America's president and chief operating officer Reggie Fils-Aimé announced his retirement, and Bowser was named as his successor as the company's president in April 2019.[11] In addition to these duties, Bowser represents Nintendo for the Entertainment Software Association.[12]
Bowser shares his surname with the main antagonist of the Mario franchise, Bowser. This drew interest when he was first hired by Nintendo,[13] and was the subject of further humorous reactions online upon his promotion to president.[14][15] The BBC referred to the case as "one of the most charming cases of nominative determinism ever".[16] Nintendo jokingly referenced the name similarity during their E3 2019 Nintendo Direct presentation.[17] Bowser said he had no issues when such jokes are made, stating "It's a signal to me that we have an amazing, passionate following, and our fans are embracing it. It's ironic that we share the same name, and there are times when it'll be fun and we'll play with it, but we're two very, very different characters. I'm not tired of it at all though."[18]
References
[edit]- ^ Doug Bowser [@thetruebowser] (July 1, 2022). "Wow. Both ends of the spectrum! How about Spencer?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Bowser, Doug [@thetruebowser] (August 11, 2014). "Great way to start the birthday" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Goldberg, Harold (June 23, 2019). "Nintendo's Doug Bowser begins his reign, enjoying jokes about his namesake Mario nemesis". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 24, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ Why Humanities with Doug Bowser. University of Utah College of Humanities. August 12, 2020. Event occurs at 2:21 – via YouTube.
I was born and raised in upstate New York,
- ^ a b "Doug Bowser". LinkedIn.
- ^ "Picks from 'King Koopa' – The University of Utah Magazine". Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Brunsman, Barrett J. (February 22, 2019). "P&G veteran tapped as president of Nintendo of America". American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ Farrell, Paul (February 21, 2019). "Doug Bowser: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- ^ Gremlich, Krista (February 21, 2019). "Nintendo of America's Doug Bowser to Take Over as President". Bloomberg.
- ^ MacDonald, Keza (February 21, 2019). "Bowser takes over at Nintendo in US after Fils-Aime's 13-year reign". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
- ^ "Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime to Retire: Doug Bowser Named New President". Business Wire. February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ Shanley, Patrick (January 17, 2020). "Missing Sony, E3 Moves Ahead Without One of Its Biggest Backers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ Hern, Alex (May 21, 2016). "Nintendo hires Bowser. Really". The Guardian. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ Webb, Kevin. "Nintendo of America's new president is named Bowser, and everyone is making the same jokes". Business Insider. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (February 21, 2019). "The Internet Reacts To Bowser Taking Over Nintendo". Kotaku. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ Lee, Dave (February 21, 2019). "Bowser takes over at Nintendo of America". BBC. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (June 11, 2019). "At E3, Nintendo riffs on Doug Bowser's name in the best way". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Segerra, Lisa Marie (June 18, 2019). "Nintendo's President on Streaming, 5G Wireless, and E-Sports". Fortune. Retrieved April 7, 2020.