Anybody who has visited a cinema in the past couple of decades will know how comic book superheroes are dominating the film industry. From the forthcoming Batman movie to the recent successes like Spider-Man: Homecoming, it seems that we just can’t get enough of these larger than life characters. They have been and are an essential part of our lives.

What’s fascinating is that it seems that superheroes are no longer just at home in Hollywood blockbusters. Lately, we’ve seen a real trend for superheroes to appear in all manner of other industries. Google already tried it out in 2008, where instead of reaching out to journalists and bloggers with a traditional press release, they opted to send a printed comic book. And our favourite household cleaner Mr.Clean certainly joins the list.

The theme has certainly captured the attention of the iGaming industry too, where some online casino brands introduced superheroes as brand ambassadors. For example, the online casino brand Rizk have introduced a superhero called Captain Rizk at the disposal of their customers. And it’s interesting to see how the key figure behind all of the positive user opinions and reviews on Rizk casino was no other than Captain Rizk himself, helping the users find their way around the site.

It seems that there’s something about these heroic characters that makes them very attractive and many brands out there are catching up this trend with comic-book-like storytelling. But let’s see is it truly about superheroes that makes them so suitable to be brand ambassadors, guides and our very own home cleaning assistants?

A Voice Of Authority

Anybody who grew up in the 1980s will remember those anti-smoking adverts that featured comic book legend Superman taking on the villainous Nick O’Teen. These promotional campaigns were hugely influential in helping a generation of youngsters avoid the perils of cigarette smoking.

Much of this is down to the esteem with which Superman was held in the 1980s. This was the era in which Christopher Reeve donned the famous Superman suit in a series of much-loved movies. So if a superhero is going to tell you not to smoke, then you’ll know that there would be legions of youngsters who would follow his advice.

After all, most of us have grown up following the exploits of modern-day legends like Iron Man and Superman, and so we are far more likely to listen to what they have to say.

Endlessly Adaptable

The great thing about superheroes is that they are endlessly adaptable. Unlike regular human beings who have nasty habits of getting in embarrassing situations and dying, comic book characters are eternally young and will always do what they are told.

As a result, we’ve seen everything from Batman getting involved in a Got Milk? campaign to the Avengers: Endgame characters getting featured on limited edition Coca Cola cans. Rather than having to deal with movie star’s unruly egos, these superheroes are more than happy to sell just about anything without any doubts.

Just as a new actor can bring something different to a comic book character, each superhero can be used to try and sell us anything. Whether it’s the sight of the Incredible Hulk playing as a goalkeeper for Nike in 2014, or Batman declaring his love of Diet Coke way back in 1989, there’s no end of ways to bend these characters into new and surprising shapes.

Perfect For Targeting New Demographics

In the past decade, we’ve seen no shortage of superheroes who have attempted to break through the traditional archetypes of the white male in the movie theatres. From the massive critical and box office success of Black Panther to the reinvigoration of the Wonder Woman franchise, these characters have shown us that there can be a superhero for every demographic.

Such a fact isn’t lost on advertising agencies, and by cleverly using certain kinds of comic book characters, they can be sure that their brand message will resonate with specific demographics.

Although the Wonder Woman Think Thin promotion was more than a little tone-deaf, it does show that there is plenty of effort being made in using these superheroes to target specific needs of target audiences.

Such tactics show us that there’s plenty of care that needs to be taken in using superheroes in marketing. After all, comic book fans are notoriously quick to call out any promotional campaign that doesn’t pay sufficient homage to their much-loved superheroes. But if there’s one that we know, it’s that we can look forward to seeing plenty more comic-book characters in places far beyond our movie theatres in the future.