“Deadpool & Wolverine” is poised to break box office records when it hits theaters this Friday (July 26), and buzz has been building around the superhero sequel since the 2022 announcement that Hugh Jackman would reprise his iconic “X-Men” role in the film.
There has been no shortage of marketers looking to borrow some of the cultural cache of the third “Deadpool” outing. The run-up to the film's release has seen brands including Heineken, Heinz and Jack in the Box team up with the film in efforts that bring together marketers, Marvel Studios and Maximum Effort, the film production company and digital marketing agency co-founded by Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds.
Maximum Effort specializes in bridging media and marketing with campaigns that tap into pop culture, like a headline-generating stunt from State Farm last year around the relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and a "Groundhog Day"-inspired Lay's effort that was one of the year's best so far. The agency's work around “Deadpool & Wolverine” continues that zeitgeist-grabbing approach, pushing the boundaries and breaking the rules of advertising in the same way that the “Merc with a Mouth” character disrupted comics and comic-book movies.
“I think what's fun about the Deadpool brand is that we're not ashamed of marketing,” said George Dewey, the co-founder of Maximum Effort. “Marketing is part of the process and part of the fun for us.”
Brand partnerships around the third Deadpool film came from “all over the place,” Dewey explained: Disney, which added the Deadpool IP to its stable with the 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, had preexisting relationships with brands like Heineken. Maximum Effort had its own relationship with QSR chain Jack in the Box, while the agency pursued some brands after falling in love with creative concepts, like a Heinz effort that compared the superheroes' costumes to ketchup and mustard.
“There's some movies that reluctantly accept partnership dollars, because they know it's part of what gets the movie out there,” Dewey said. “We're the exact opposite: we're like, 'great, another opportunity to have fun.’”
Each campaign has found a way to tie into the “Deadpool & Wolverine” universe but stand out from each other. The Heineken ad played off the pair's rivalry and suggested beer cans were made of the metal from Wolverine's claws, while Jack in the Box's spot gave Deadpool a makeover in the style of the chain's mascot and promoted Mini Chimi Bang Bangs — a version of the character's beloved Chimichangas. For each, Maximum Effort has a unique vantage point as producers of the film.
“We have a full view of what's happening in the film, what all the relationships are on the film, and where the white spaces are, so we have a strategic advantage in that regard,” Dewey said.
Previous Deadpool brand tie-ins have featured 7-Eleven, Kraft Heinz’s Devour product and the Mike’s Hard family of alcoholic beverages. At this point, marketing Deadpool alongside brand partners is old hat for Dewey and Reynolds, who have been working in the character’s universe for almost a decade (the agency even takes its name from his catchphrase). Their experience allows them to quickly "gut check" partnerships, approaches and copy.
“We have a shorthand, and we like to move quickly,” Dewey said. “We don't overthink stuff.”
Despite the film being vulgar and violent, the marketing around the brand partnerships is not. However, the fact that “Deadpool & Wolverine” is an R-rated film limits the advertisers willing to partner with it. Categories including alcohol, QSR and food were natural fits and allowed for Maximum Effort's concept-driven approach to creative.
“The concept of the partnership says more about the value of the partnership than however many above-the-line media dollars they're spending, because at a certain point, you're going to get awareness, especially on a movie like this, awareness is not our issue,” Dewey said. “What is the partnership doing and what is it saying about the product?”
