How Marty Supreme, Drix, and PVR INOX transformed a film release into a pop-cultural takeover

Mumbai: The first clue that something unusual was brewing came down to a colour. Orange, loud and unapologetic, began turning up everywhere. On posters for Marty Supreme. On cans of Drix Orange Crush. In cinema lobbies, on influencer feeds, in the visual grammar of a film that treats 1950s table tennis with the swagger of a downtown fashion editorial. What started as a visual coincidence has since become one of the more intriguing brand crossovers to land in Indian cinemas this year.

“Honestly, yes — but it didn’t stop at colour,” say Rahul Stepthen and Bikash Parik, co-founders of Drix, reflecting on the moment the connection clicked. “The first spark was visual. Someone casually pointed out how Drix Orange Crush and Marty Supreme’s bold orange world felt like they belonged on the same poster.” That offhand observation soon grew into something more deliberate. “What really sealed it was the attitude match,” they add. “Marty Supreme isn’t just loud and stylish — it’s playful, confident, and a little unexpected. That’s exactly how we’ve built Drix.”

The introduction came via intermediaries rather than a boardroom epiphany. PVR INOX’s social media agency, Barcode Entertainment, brought the brands together, spotting an overlap in tone that felt instinctive rather than engineered. “The synergy clicked almost immediately,” says Dharmesh Datta, Vice President at PVR INOX Pictures. “Once the brand was brought to us, we collectively worked on a proposal that felt right for both sides. From there, things moved very organically.”

That sense of ease is what sets this partnership apart from the average movie tie-in. There are no clumsy taglines or bolt-on logos here. Instead, Drix steps into the cinema as a character of sorts, woven into the release of Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s frenetic, stylised sports drama starring Timothée Chalamet. The film’s restless energy and slightly offbeat humour find a natural echo in a functional soda brand that has always leaned into pop culture rather than wellness sermons.

“We felt the brand’s personality matched the film’s energy perfectly,” Datta explains. “Marty Supreme has a bold, quirky, slightly offbeat tone, and Drix has always played in that same cultural space.” He points to Drix’s earlier campaigns, with their surreal orange ball heads, as an example of shared visual language. The result, he says, feels like “two like-minded worlds colliding” rather than a forced collaboration.

For Drix, the cinema offered a chance to reframe what a prebiotic, zero-sugar drink could look like in a space dominated by sugary sodas. The strategy was simple: avoid the health lecture. “We don’t start with the word prebiotics,” Stepthen and Parik say. “We start with vibe.” The idea is to win people over on taste, design, and cultural relevance first. “Once someone takes that first sip, then the idea of a functional soda at the movies suddenly makes sense.”

That thinking extends to how Drix appears across PVR INOX cinemas ahead of the film’s January 23 release. Moviegoers will encounter co-branded packaging, curated premiere gift boxes, and a steady presence that positions Drix as the official hydration partner for Marty Supreme. “Moviegoers will experience Drix as more than just a drink brand,” Datta says. “They came on board as our hydration partner, seamlessly integrated into the film’s journey.”

The collaboration leans heavily into moments that feel native to the act of going to the movies. “This wasn’t about slapping a logo on a cup,” the Drix founders emphasise. “It was about creating a cultural crossover where cinema, pop energy, and a next-gen beverage collide.” They hint at playful touches woven into the cinema ritual itself, designed to surprise without shouting.

And if Chalamet’s Marty Supreme were to reach for a drink mid-match? The answer is already scripted. “If we’re talking Marty Supreme energy, it has to be Orange Crush,” say Stepthen and Parik. “There’s a sharpness, confidence, and playful swagger to it that mirrors Timothée’s on-screen presence.”

Also Read: Year-End: From Feed to Footnote: How Young Voices Relearned How to Speak in 2025

In an era where audiences are increasingly sceptical of brand intrusions, the success of this partnership may lie in its self-awareness. Orange was the signal that caught the eye. A shared mindset did the rest.