Hollywood directors Anthony and Joseph Russo used to work alongside actor Robert Downey Jr. on the sets of Marvel films such as “Avengers: Endgame.” Then last year, Downey and his coffee brand Happy became a new client of their creative agency, Superconductor, which the Russo Brothers co-founded with fellow director Justin Lin in 2019.

Superconductor spearheaded Happy’s first major campaign following its official launch this January. The social-first push was tied to the Super Bowl and challenged consumers to send Downey excuses for why they couldn’t go to work on the Monday after the Big Game, labeled with the hashtag #HappyMonday. The actor then joined the three people with the most creative justifications for a missed day of work (such as “emergency jury duty”) on Zoom calls with their bosses to help the winners make their case. 

The Webby Award-winning campaign garnered more than 35 million views across social media without paid support and drove so many pre-orders of Happy’s products on Amazon that the retailer had to temporarily pause them.

Superconductor’s #HappyMonday campaign embodies its core strategy of transforming its clients—which include LG, Google, Netflix, Disney and, naturally, Marvel—into “entertainment engines” whose marketing efforts revolve around movie-like narratives and characters. Those story-driven campaigns have taken the form of brand-funded films and documentaries, immersive VR and AR experiences and social media pushes like the one it created for Happy. 

The agency’s “Myths Busting Myths” campaign for electric vehicle education website ElectricForAll.org similarly illustrates Superconductor’s focus on weaving narratives throughout broader marketing pushes. Superconductor partnered with comedian Eric André to direct an episodic video series of mythical creatures such as unicorns, aliens and Sasquatch refuting common misconceptions about electric vehicles. The campaign collectively received more than 50 million views and drove one million visits to ElectricForAll.org.

With a slew of ongoing projects for clients such as LG and Happy and multiple campaigns in the works for new clients, including digital security app Aura, Superconductor is on track to reach a record $6 million in revenue in 2024.