Dive Brief:
- Samsung and Liquid I.V. are swinging into “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” with campaigns set against the superhero blockbuster’s New York City backdrop, according to press releases shared by the companies.
- Liquid I.V., the film’s exclusive functional hydration partner, is running a campaign that shows the character Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) staying refreshed on a scorching day. Liquid I.V.’s largest entertainment collaboration to date also features co-branded products, in-movie appearances and an upcoming fan experience.
- Building on a Spidey Tracker web experience launched in June, Samsung is also rolling out creative featuring Batalon and the web-slinger himself as Spider-Man grows frustrated with shattered phones only to find the right fit with a foldable Galaxy phone.
Dive Insight:
Samsung and Liquid I.V. are tapping into excitement around the next entry in Marvel and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man franchise with a pair of campaigns that place an emphasis on product characteristics and draw on the superhero’s preoccupation with science. “Brand New Day,” which lands in theaters July 31, is tracking for a U.S. opening between $180 million and $190 million, Deadline reported, priming it to be a major hit of the 2026 summer season.
Both marketing efforts enlist Ned, a nerdy main character from “Brand New Day,” and lean heavily into the narrative’s New York setting. Spider-Man also plays a wordless role in the campaigns, fussing with gadgets for Samsung and saving an oblivious Ned from hazards in Liquid I.V.’s spot.
Samsung’s commercial, directed by Marvel production design alum Kasra Farahani, is partly set in Peter Parker’s apartment and splices in footage from the film. The ad opens with Ned checking his Spidey Tracker — a real-world mobile experience developed by Samsung — as Spider-Man swings by in the background before taking a breather at home.
There, Spider-Man grows frustrated with a pile of cracked smartphones that weren’t able to withstand his acts of perilous derring-do before he starts building a new foldable Galaxy phone, which a virtual assistant describes as “a flip phone with intelligent AI for communications on the go.” Samsung said it would extend the story at its Galaxy Unpacked event on July 22.
The upcoming film also marks the latest and largest in a growing entertainment partnership slate for Unilever-owned Liquid I.V., which recently had a tie-up with the hit Amazon Prime Video series “Off Campus.”
In the Spider-Man work, titled “Your Friendly Neighborhood Hydration Brand,” Ned is strolling down the block, cluelessly listening to music, while Spider-Man saves him from imminent dangers like a pair of masked thugs and falling construction tools. A sweltering Ned finally arrives at a corner store where he reads off Liquid I.V. health benefits before knocking back a bottle of water with the powder mixed in, noting that he’s “ready for a brand new day.”
The marketing supports two limited-time, co-branded offerings, Hydration Multiplier Arctic Raspberry and Sugar-Free Raspberry Lemonade. Agency Blue Raven is behind “Your Friendly Neighborhood Hydration Brand” while Alen Petkovic directed the ad, which arrives as New York undergoes a heat wave and will air across TV, digital and social.
Marketers’ interest in brand and product integration with popular intellectual properties is creating bigger waves in the marketing services sector. M+C Saatchi North America earlier this month announced a dedicated entertainment marketing practice led by a former WME executive.
