Adobe’s push into branded entertainment appears to be gaining early traction, with its new episodic series The Marketers opening strongly on YouTube. Episode one has racked up around 5.8 million views, while episode two is already on 4.6 million and climbing, signalling solid early engagement for the format.
The series marks a notable shift for the global tech company, positioning its Acrobat brand at the centre of a scripted comedy rather than a traditional product-led campaign. Produced by Ruckus Films and directed by Tim Wilkime, the five-part workplace series is led by Hasan Minhaj and Patty Guggenheim, with additional appearances from Chance the Rapper, Iliza Shlesinger and Mario Lopez.
Running between three and seven minutes per episode, The Marketers follows two agency creatives tasked with topping the success of their previous Acrobat campaign. The storyline builds on last year’s jingle-led relaunch, expanding it into a broader narrative universe with recurring characters, callbacks and episodic arcs.
Within the show, the duo assembles an ‘Alpha Squad’ of exaggerated marketing archetypes – from a data obsessive to a Gen Alpha trend forecaster – as they attempt to land a breakthrough idea. While the tone is comedic, Acrobat’s AI-powered tools are integrated into the workflow, used to generate ideas, build presentations and organise campaign thinking without interrupting the narrative.
The series is being rolled out weekly on YouTube, supported by short-form clips and social content designed to extend reach and drive discovery. Cast members and creators are also amplifying episodes across their own platforms to tap audiences.
For Adobe, the project reflects an ambition to build a repeatable, TV-style franchise that can scale across seasons and potentially extend into live activations and brand events. Internally, the company frames the initiative as part of a “culture-first” strategy to drive top-of-funnel relevance through entertainment rather than interruption.
“We wanted to answer the critical question most marketers face today: how do you show up for an audience in a way that adds to their experience instead of interrupting it?” said Jared Carneson, global head of social media at Adobe. “The answer wasn’t about making more engaging ads. It was about marketing-driven entertainment – something additive, something that gives more than it takes.”
The move underscores a wider shift in the industry, with brands increasingly investing in content marketing and long-form storytelling formats that blur the line between advertising and entertainment. Adobe’s project echoes Apple’s Underdogs series which also used a workplace comedy format to showcase its products in action. Like Adobe, Apple leaned into character-led storytelling, using entertainment to demonstrate utility rather than relying on traditional feature-led advertising.
