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Brands Hit The Red Carpet: L’Oréal, Burger King, And Disney Stand Out At The Oscars
Brands used the Oscars broadcast to debut new campaigns and collaborations across fashion, fast food, and travel. Here are three ads that stood out.
Key Points
Several brands used this year's Oscars broadcast to debut new campaigns in front of a large live audience.
L’Oréal partnered with The Devil Wears Prada 2, Burger King introduced a new customer-focused platform, and Disney Cruise Line leaned into emotional storytelling.
The campaigns show how major cultural events remain valuable stages for brand announcements, partnerships, and repositioning efforts.
The Oscars may celebrate the film industry, but the ad breaks have increasingly become a showcase for brand creativity as well. During this year’s broadcast, several advertisers used the moment to debut campaigns designed to capture attention during one of television’s most culturally visible nights.
From a fashion-film crossover to a fast-food brand reset and an emotional family story from Disney, here are three ads that stood out during the Oscars broadcast.
Red carpet crossover: Beauty giant L’Oréal collaborated with 20th Century Studios to tease The Devil Wears Prada 2 during the 2026 Oscars with a campaign that blurred the line between film promotion and advertising. The spot, created by Ryan Reynolds' agency Maximum Effort, placed L’Oréal ambassadors Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley inside the fictional offices of Runway Magazine, the iconic setting from the original film. In the ad, Jenner is mistakenly treated as a job applicant for Miranda Priestly’s assistant while Ashley reprises her role from the upcoming sequel. By situating the brand inside the story world of the film, the campaign turned a traditional ad break into a piece of franchise storytelling. The collaboration is expected to continue through the movie’s theatrical rollout later this year.
Best supporting insight: Partnerships with major film franchises are increasingly becoming marketing platforms rather than one-off promotional tie-ins. By embedding brands directly into cinematic story worlds, marketers can tap into existing fan communities and cultural nostalgia while extending campaign storytelling beyond a single ad. As streaming, social, and theatrical releases blur together, these entertainment-driven collaborations offer brands multiple opportunities to engage audiences over time.
And the crown goes to…: Burger King used the Oscars stage to launch a new brand platform centered on customer feedback and transparency. In a 90-second spot titled There’s a New King, and It’s You, company president Tom Curtis narrates a self-aware look at the chain’s history, acknowledging common complaints about slow service, aging restaurants, and product inconsistencies. The campaign, led by CMO Joel Yashinsky, formally retires the brand’s longtime King mascot and symbolically hands the crown to customers. The creative blends archival Burger King ads with contemporary footage and social media commentary, reinforcing the brand’s shift toward a "guest-led" strategy after Curtis publicly shared his phone number and invited diners to send feedback.
Best supporting insight: The campaign reflects a growing willingness among brands to acknowledge imperfections as part of a broader turnaround narrative. By incorporating customer criticism directly into its messaging, Burger King reframes marketing as a public dialogue rather than a polished broadcast. For advertisers, the strategy highlights how transparency and responsiveness can help rebuild trust while turning operational improvements into a central storytelling platform.
Sailing into the spotlight: Disney Cruise Line debuted a cinematic new spot titled Midnight Magic during the Oscars broadcast, leaning into emotional storytelling rather than product promotion. The ad follows a father and son sharing a quiet nighttime ritual aboard a Disney cruise ship, tracing their relationship across decades from childhood to adulthood and eventually grandparenthood. Led by Disney's Chief Marketing and Brand Officer Asad Ayaz, the campaign focuses on intimate family moments rather than large-scale spectacle, reinforcing the brand’s positioning around shared experiences and lifelong memories. The spot also arrives as Disney Cruise Line prepares for a major expansion, with five additional ships scheduled to launch by 2031.
Best supporting insight: Disney’s spot shows how brands can tell a bigger story than just what they sell. By focusing on family traditions and generational memories, the cruise line positions its trips as part of life’s milestones rather than a one-time vacation. Campaigns like this remind marketers that stories rooted in real experiences often leave a stronger impression than product-focused messaging.
