The Marvel Universe’s newest hero doesn’t have the kind of superpowers wielded by Thor, Captain Marvel, or Spider-Man, but some people think the character is pretty daring nonetheless.
In a new commercial starting today, Procter & Gamble’s Tide helps save the day when Wong, Doctor Strange’s longtime colleague, must cleanse a cloak of levitation stained and soiled by pizza flour and bits of tuna to melt. The ad, which will be seen on various social networks and on television, is a deliberate attempt to promote the May 6 premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the latest movie from Disney’s Marvel Studios, but That doesn’t mean it can’t also put a well-known detergent in the spotlight.
Marvel fans “are not only big, they’re so dedicated. It really allows us to move into this new space,” said Alex Perez, Procter & Gamble’s senior brand director of laundry products for North America, in an interview. “We believe we will reach out to people who have seen us before, but not in a way that was as interesting to them.”
Many major marketers have partnered with film studios to promote a major entertainment release, whether it’s McDonald’s offering toy figures in its kid-centric Happy Meals, or Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light teaming up with Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO to to start a new season of Game of Thrones. Still, Tide executives can’t recall a time in recent memory when the laundry detergent helped scour the path to a movie launch.
Tide snagged the guest spot because P&G put more emphasis on other techniques than running the same old laundry ads that had for decades featured housewives touting detergent’s ability to remove stains. In recent years, Tide has had prominent roles in several different Super Bowl commercials, one featuring a spot on Fox broadcaster Terry Bradshaw’s shirt shirt, which featured prominently in an advert shortly thereafter. The company recently enlisted celebrities like Ice-T and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to convince consumers to wash clothes with a Tide brand extension designed for use in cold water. And Tide partnered with 16 different NFL teams over the past year to continue that effort.
While Marvel is arguably one of the most well-known entertainment brands in the country, Procter leaves nothing to chance. Social media users who follow actor David Harbour, a participant in a previous Tide ad campaign who also plays Black Widow’s father in the Marvel film of the same name, may have noticed something unusual last week. Harbor posted a video Thursday talking about a stained shirt. In the background. Viewers may have seen a hand emerge from one of the interdimensional portals used by Doctor Strange and his magical cohorts and grab a container of Tide Pods. “This has sparked a lot of fan speculation and conversation,” says Daniel Lobaton, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, the advertising agency that’s part of Woven, a consortium of advertising firms that work for Procter’s fabric care stores.
The strangest thing just happened to me… 👀@Wonder @Tide
#TideAd #DoctorStrange #MultiverseOfMadness pic.twitter.com/L6CqCLHoiv— David Harbor (@DavidKHarbour) April 14, 2022
The plot of the spot was also chosen very consciously, he says. Wong’s efforts to clean up a cloak that doesn’t belong to him will resonate with viewers, Lobaton says, who may have experienced a similar situation. “If it’s not your own, you pay a lot more attention,” he says.
Marvel fans will find several other references to the company’s films when watching the commercial, says Lobaton, which was created by a group of creative executives who are also fans of the films. “I’m a big nerd,” he admits. Even the tuna melt that stains Doctor Strange’s cape has roots in Marvel cinematic history: In Avengers: Infinity War, Wong and Doctor Strange discuss the uplifting powers of a good tuna melt sandwich before Bruce Banner appears in front of them, to drag her into a fight with Thanos.
The new commercial will run through June, Perez says, meaning it will help draw attention to the film before it debuts and then echo elements of the film that might catch the eye of a consumer after watching it has seen. “The Marvel fan will love it, but you don’t have to be a Marvel fan to catch a glimpse and enjoy the spot,” says the CEO.
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