If you feel like you’ve been seeing a whole lot of Deadpool leading up to Ryan Reynolds’ new superhero movie, it’s not just you. 20th Century Fox has turned up the marketing blitz for the R-rated film to full blast — and it’s about to hit 11.
The movie studio has teamed up with Viacom for a large-scale ad takeover in which five of the mass media company’s TV networks will only air custom spots for the upcoming Marvel flick during eight programs, The Wrap reports. Channels like Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, and more will feature the custom ads starring with Reynolds front and center as the over-the-top smartass/badass.
Leading up to the Deadpool takeover, the networks have begun teasing what’s to come, with Reynolds’ character prepping viewers to see a lot more of his masked face. In one such spot, he explains what to expect: “What it means is no commercials, just me running mouth and swinging sword.” Naturally, dirty jokes are included, albeit tamer ones than we expect to see when the R-rated flick hits theaters. (This is, after all, a film that was banned in China for inappropriate content.
Starting Monday, MTV, VH1, and Spike will only run the custom Deadpool ads across three full hours of programming. A total of eight shows across all five networks, however, will air no ads other than the movie’s custom spots, including Comedy Central’s Tosh.o, Workaholics, and @midnight; MTV’s Teen Mom and Ridiculousness, VH1’s Love & Hip Hop, Spike’s Cops, and, surprisingly, Logo’s Golden Girls.
As if the campaign weren’t unique enough already, the spots will be tailored to the individual shows. (How convenient that Deadpool is actually a Golden Girls fan in the movie!)
Multiple Viacom platforms will show the ads as well, so TV viewers won’t be the only ones who get to see the latest Deadpool media blitz. Leading up to the movie, Reynolds has spent a lot of time in character hyping his standalone superhero film, doing everything from using burritos to illustrate why IMAX is better to reading books by YA author Judy Bloom — as superheroes do, right?
Deadpool opens in theaters on February 12.
