“The Devil Wears Prada” was a surprise hit in 2006, grossing over $326 million globally with its charming tale of a naive young journalist’s misadventures working for a steely fashion magazine editor. While the brand names dropped the first time around were mostly incidental, major marketers aren’t taking any chances with “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
The sequel, due out May 1 and expected to notch $66 million during its opening weekend, has partnered with more than a dozen brands spanning alcohol, beauty, beverage, tech and more. Executives at distributor 20th Century Studios’ parent company Disney have been working since the movie was greenlit two years ago to secure partnerships with best-in-class brands.
“It’s not just logos everywhere, not just promotion for promotion’s sake,” said Lylle Breier, executive vice president of global marketing partnerships and special events at Disney. “[We worked] to build the best marketing partnership program that's ever been launched, carefully and collectively, with world-class brands… that could be partners with us through the life cycle of the movie.”
With that goal in mind, Disney secured handfuls of partnerships that fit in the world of “The Devil Wears Prada” and the offices of the fictional “Runway” magazine, like beauty brands Lancôme, L'Oréal Paris and TreSemmé that would fit in at fashion shoots, and the Starbucks and Diet Cokes that seem at home in the hands of over-caffeinated journalists.
“I totally understand why every brand wants to be a part of it, because it's been a part of the cultural lexicon for 20 years, and now all of a sudden, brands … can dovetail into it so nicely,” said Kathleen Swanson, co-head of creative for brand and entertainment at Maximum Effort, which worked on two of the branded campaigns.
The film’s setting provided a rare opportunity for endemic brands to land a movie partnership. While the titular characters from Disney’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” make for good Burger King collectibles, the pair is unlikely to find a drive-thru in the “Star Wars” universe.
“It's almost like you can do everything… because the inherent marriage of the brand and the content really makes a lot of sense, and then it's about execution,” said David Anderson, co-head of marketing at UTA, which helped secure the L'Oréal deal. “If you're going to lean into something that is inherently entertaining and audiences love, you really have to bring an A game to what you do with it.”
While brands including Starbucks and Mercedes-Benz’s Maybach appear in the film, not all the brand partnerships are inclusive of product placement. But through a mix of co-branded ad spots, digital content, experiential activations and limited-edition products, Disney worked to craft bespoke partnerships that fit together seamlessly.
“We mapped it out to make sure that everything was different: different talent, different participants, different directors, different people working on each,” Breier said. “Think about it as a fashion collection: Each outfit is different, but they go together.”
Co-branded ads
Central to many of the partnerships are ad spots that bring branded products and experiences to the world of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Several feature celebrity ambassadors and talent from the film, but — unlike most movie promotions — there is little footage from the actual film.
“We've tried to create all of the programs from the ground up to make them unique for each partner, unique for the moment in time, unique for the culture,” Breier said.
Instead of repackaging trailer footage, nearly all of the co-branded spots create or reimagine the type of high-pressure situations that animate the film’s world. Diet Coke’s ad focuses on the respite the soda provides when an unseen Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep in the films, leaves the office, while Starbucks enlisted actor Adrian Grenier for a tongue-in-cheek update on his character Nate, who does not appear in the sequel. In similar efforts, Google and Samsung tapped actors from the film to showcase Google’s Try On feature in search and the Circle Search with Google feature on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra.
L'Oréal Paris’ custom spot features global ambassadors Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley, the latter of whom appears in the film, to craft a case of mistaken identity at the “Runway” offices. TreSemmé’s spot featured brand ambassador Paige DeSorbo and fashion designer Christian Siriano backstage at a New York Fashion Week event. Both campaigns debuted during the Oscars telecast and helped kick off the film’s extended promotional run.
One of the most complete uses of the films’ characters and scenarios is Lancôme’s campaign, which features Pauline Chalamet and Caleb Hearon, who both appear in the sequel. In the ad, the pair must undertake an “impossible task” of finding the beauty brand’s forthcoming Absolue Longevity MD product, which will be released on May 1 to coincide with the film’s premiere. The vignette is reminiscent of the quest for an unpublished Harry Potter manuscript from the first film.
“Everything that you do with movie marketing, everything is content, so everything can be part of the storytelling,” said Pierce Thiot, co-head of creative for brand and entertainment at Maximum Effort, which produced the Lancôme and L'Oréal spots. “We loved building out these little micro-moments within the world: little pocket universes within the story that don’t talk to or affect the film, but play within that world.”
Digital extensions
Beyond ads, many of the film’s brand collaborations look to extend the world of “The Devil Wears Prada” into other digital channels. Lancôme stuck with the theme of high-gloss publishing, tapping Chalamet and the brand’s global ambassador Isabella Rossellini for bespoke editorial content on Vogue. United debuted an in-cabin takeover that put the film’s iconic red heel logo on the real-time flight map. Grey Goose, which was temporarily rebranded as “Cerulean Goose” for the film, enlisted Heidi Klum to star in an original content piece, created in partnership with BBH USA.
Grey Goose is not the only brand to embrace cerulean, in a nod to the first film’s iconic monologue about how fashion works. Coca-Cola brand Smartwater launched the “Smartwater Cerulean” digital game, challenging consumers to find the shade among a sea of blues for a chance at prizes, including a replica of the cerulean sweater from the film. The tongue-in-cheek effort plays off Smartwater’s signature blue color — a subtle tweak that speaks to consumers with discerning eyes in the same way the film does.
“We’re in a category where function alone doesn’t differentiate, so it comes down to how and where you show up,” said Luke Perkins, group director for creative strategy at Coca-Cola, in emailed comments. “For Smartwater, that means participating in cultural moments that already have meaning for our audience and doing so in a way that feels intentional and additive.”
In addition, Smartwater went from URL to IRL by hiding special edition Smartwater Cerulean bottles featuring QR codes linked to the game at select Target locations. For Coca-Cola, the partnership was not just a playful nod to cultural nostalgia, but an alignment of brands.
“‘The Devil Wears Prada’ has always stood for taste, discernment and the idea that details matter. That mirrors the ethos Smartwater is built upon, serving a consumer who values premium quality, thoughtful design and an elevated point of view,” Perkins said.
Experiences and products
For brands, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” represents a perfect opportunity to flex experiential muscles that are back in use after being dormant during the height of the pandemic. The film’s New York City setting is well-suited for pop-ups and red carpet experiences.
L'Oréal and Grey Goose hosted pop-ups in New York in the run-up to the film, while Starbucks launched both a secret menu of beverages and distributed limited-edition copies of “Runway” at the Starbucks Reserve location in the Empire State Building.
Diet Coke’s ad and activations feature special edition slim cans and the Canny Pack, a leather clutch designed to hold a can of the soda whose creation is attributed to Diet Coke Guest Curator James Holt — the fashion designer portrayed by Daniel Sunjata in the original film. The exclusive, non-retail item will be doled out by influencer Kristen Hollingshaus on April 29. The Canny Pack will also be on display at Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York flagship from May 1 to May 15, with one of the bags being handcrafted in the window on the day of the film’s premiere.
“This collaboration, much like The Canny Pack itself, is more than a product; it’s a testament to our shared values, a response to a real consumer need in the burgeoning wearables beverage category, and precisely what Diet Coke fans have been craving,” said Stacy Jackson, vice president of marketing for Coca-Cola Trademark, in a statement. “It brings together two icons in a way that feels inherently authentic, forward-thinking, and deeply rooted in passionate fandom.”
The film’s world premiere on April 20 at Lincoln Center provided another opportunity for brands to showcase their wares. Google kicked off its partnership with The Runway Closet, an interactive red carpet experience where guests could choose clothes and preview the look using Google Try On rooms.
In kind, Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra was used to capture attendees’ looks on the red carpet, showing off the smartphone’s ability to combine “professional-grade footage with a cinematic, social post-ready feel,” per a press release. Celebrities including Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu and Winnie Harlow posed for the branded photo opp.
“At Samsung, we believe great technology should feel as intuitive as great style,” said Keena Grigsby, CMO and vice president of mobile experience at Samsung Electronics America, in a statement. “With Galaxy S26, we’re bringing that to life — merging fashion, film, and innovative tech to deliver an experience that’s instant, intelligent, and unmistakably powerful.”
