Weekly Best in Movie Marketing: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’, ‘Thug Life’ and more
Hello! Welcome to the fourth blog post in my series, ‘Weekly Best in Movie Marketing‘. In this series, I highlight my favourite movie marketing initiatives from the week in my book. I also explain why they stand out to me.
In this article, I will discuss the online promotions for the Irish black comedy television series, ‘Bad Sisters‘ by ‘Apple TV’ and the upcoming Tamil-language movie, ‘Thug Life‘ by ‘Raaj Kamal Films International‘ (RKFI), as well as the on-the-ground on-brand activations for the American television series ‘Daredevil: Born Again‘ by ‘Disney+‘ and for the upcoming Tamil-language sports drama film, ‘Test‘ by ‘Netflix‘.
Promotion for the ‘greenest show on TV’ Online:
On St. Patrick’s Day i.e., March 17, 2025, Apple TV‘s social media channels shared a promotional video for the Irish series ‘Bad Sisters‘, dubbing it as ‘The greenest show on TV‘. Each frame of the video prominently features a bright green colour, honouring Ireland’s nickname, ‘Emerald Isle‘. I love the brilliance behind the idea and the effort put into executing it.
Watch the video below on the ‘X‘ channel of ‘Apple TV‘…
Impressive mural for the ‘Disney+‘ series, ‘Daredevil: Born Again‘:
‘Daredevil: Born Again‘ is the 13th television series in the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe‘ (MCU), which premiered on Disney+ on March 4, 2025, with the release of its first two episodes. To promote the series, the streamer collaborated with the street artist, ‘Insane51’, creating a huge mural in Manchester city. This artwork showcases the series’ main characters, ‘Daredevil‘ and ‘Kingpin‘, in a unique ‘double exposure’ style, layering two images over one another. Daredevil’s image appears in red, while Kingpin’s photo shows up in blue. These primary colours, which are placed far apart on the colour wheel, symbolize the stark opposition between the two characters. Viewers can see the mural with the naked eye and through red and blue lenses, enabling them to experience three different perspectives.
The mural not only conveys a hidden meaning, but it also includes a tactile feature to allow people with visual impairments to engage with the art through touch. Visitors can experience the mural through sound by scanning a NaviLens code with their smartphones to access an audio description. This interactive experience was created in collaboration with the British charity, ‘Royal National Institute of Blind People‘ (RNIB).
On March 17, 2025, influencer KittysBlind from Manchester unveiled the mural. She has 550,000 followers on TikTok alone and was among the first to experience the tactile version of the mural.
I love two this activation for two aspects. One… I view the effort as a way to promote inclusivity. Two… The protagonist, Daredevil, is a blind lawyer. He possesses heightened senses, which align with one of the series’ core elements.
Imaginative billboard for the upcoming Netflix movie, ‘Test‘:
Netflix will premiere its Tamil-language sports drama ‘Test‘ on its streaming platform on April 4, 2025. To promote the film, the streamer has installed a creative billboard at Marina Beach in Chennai. I’ve always been a fan of Netflix’s imaginative billboards, such as the TARS-inspired billboard for ‘Interstellar‘. Another one I enjoyed was the ‘One Piece of Advice: Reach For Your Dreams‘ billboard for the series ‘One Piece‘. I’m excited more this time because an imaginative billboard has been installed in my neighbourhood for ‘Test‘.
The text on the billboard is particularly interesting; when viewed diagonally from the right, it reads ‘Herona Nallavara?‘ and when viewed diagonally from the left, it says ‘Kettavarna Villain-a‘. In ‘Google‘ search results, the meta description for the movie’s Netflix page shows: ‘The worlds of three ordinary people converge during a historic cricket match, ultimately forcing them to make life-altering decisions‘. Now, it’s quite evident that the clever advertising aligns perfectly with the movie’s theme. This makes me even more intrigued.
Watch the video from ‘Netflix India South‘ on the installation below…
‘Raaj Kamal Films International‘ skilfully rides the wave of high-profile events for its upcoming movie, ‘Thug Life‘:
I have observed that ‘Raaj Kamal Films International’ (RKFI) excels in positioning and marketing films. I’ve blogged about RKFI‘s marketing efforts for ‘Vikram‘ and ‘Amaran‘. So, I can say that it’s uncommon for them to ride the wave of high-profile events in the process of promoting their movies. I also mean that they’ve done in the past. But the reason for the same was so convincingly intertwined with the related movie. When Vijay‘s film ‘The Greatest of All Time‘ was released in theatres last year, RKFI shared the below post on its social media channels.
Sivakarthikeyan made a cameo in ‘The GOAT‘, and at that time, the RKFI team was producing the venture ‘Amaran‘. RKFI seized this marketing opportunity for ‘Amaran‘ by showing its teaser alongside ‘The GOAT‘ in cinemas.
Now, with its upcoming theatrical release, ‘Thug Life‘ scheduled for theatrical release on June 5, 2025, RKFI has rode the wave with a couple of videos this week to promote the film. The events on which the videos are based are high-profile but entirely unrelated to the movie. However, RKFI skillfully connected the events to the film’s aspects.
The first video is unveiled as a congratulatory message to Sunita Williams on her successful return from space. Watch the video below to know how deftly RKFI has intertwined its message for ‘Thug Life‘…
The second video rides the wave of popularity of the Indian Premier League franchise, the ‘Chennai Super Kings‘, by drawing a parallel between Kamal Haasan and STR with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The cherry on top of the effort is that the video releases on the same day as the highly anticipated match between the two most successful teams in IPL history: the ‘Chennai Super Kings‘ and the ‘Mumbai Indians’.
Watch the video below…