Image credit: 7-Eleven

These days, it seems like augmented reality is the hot new way to promote major motion pictures.

Star Wars did it. Adidas did it. And now Deadpool is doing it.

And they've partnered with 7-Eleven to bring the Marvel superhero to the smartphones of convenience store-shoppers everywhere. In addition to launching Deadpool-themed products, the global minimart powerhouse will hold sweepstakes promotions exclusively available from their smartphone app.

“As Deadpool 2 headquarters, we knew 7-Eleven needed to have an in-store experience that captured the excitement for the upcoming Deadpool premiere (online and on the street),” said Gurmeet Singh, 7-Eleven chief digital officer and chief information officer, in a statement. “Perfect timing to launch our first AR effort. We think Deadpool fans will really love seeing him come to life in our stores.”

Once users download the app, they are prompted to click the camera icon on the home screen. The wise-cracking superhero then guides shoppers through the experience. To add a bit of color, users can take a selfie which Deadpool will quickly scribble over with a red marker.

Not only that, but 7-Eleven has "zap codes" hidden around their stores which unlock bonus points for various products. As the activities change every week, the company hopes that users will return frequently to see what crazy antics the irreverent superhero will cook up next.

Interestingly enough, the Deadpool experience is not limited to the 7-Eleven app. Arguably the pioneer of mainstream augmented reality, Snapchat is also allowing users to experience the Deadpool marketing campaign through one of the new Snapchat Lenses.

Here at Lucyd, we see the implications of this marketing campaign as something that can easily be copied by businesses everywhere. Not only does it encourage fans to return to the store (and make more purchases), but advertising initiatives like this are shareable across the internet. By taking advantage of this free exposure from social media users, companies like Marvel are multiplying the effectiveness of their advertising budget.

With our Lucyd Lens smartglasses coming out Q1 2019, we expect to have apps in place that will make it easy for businesses to create interactive augmented reality campaigns similar to this one.

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