There’s no Oscar for best stunt yet, but these brands submitted their nominations

Audiences looking to be wowed by gravity-defying stunts usually turn on Mission: Impossible. This year, they could have just tuned into the Oscars.

No, the Academy hasn’t begun handing out best stunt performance awards yet—although there is hope that it could become a category, according to Variety. Instead, six stunt-focused spots aired during ABC’s broadcast, with L’Oréal, Carnival Cruise Line, Samsung Galaxy, Mntn, and Kiehl’s all shining the spotlight on stunt performers in their ads.

The entertainment industry has continued to push for and achieve more stunt performance recognition: the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America recently added a new stunt designer credit, and films like The Fall Guy have taken home stunt ensemble awards. So perhaps it’s no surprise that brands are getting in on the action, too. Marketers told us that stunt performances can lead to dynamic ads while showing brand support of the entertainment industry—all while showing off how those behind the scenes of brands are also, like stunt performers, crucial to the final result.

“We’re so centered around making extraordinary and memorable vacations centered around fun for our guests, and that’s really empowered by our team members who are the ones behind the scenes making that happen,” Amy Martin Ziegenfuss, CMO at Carnival, said. “That felt like the same kind of spirit of adventure and artistry that the stunt performers bring to what they do.”

3…2…1…Action!

Carnival’s ad features stunt actor Hannah Betts leaping from a helicopter piloted by fellow stuntperson Fred North. Betts plummets through the air and lands in a pool on a Carnival cruise ship before the scene cuts to two directors overseeing the shot, who are also played by stunt actors. Almost everyone involved in the background of the ad is a stunt performer too, Martin Ziegenfuss said, including the doubles for A-listers Hugh Jackman and Harrison Ford.

The production process on the spot took about a month, which Martin Ziegenfuss said was fast compared to the brand’s more typical commercial shoots, and the ad ran on the Oscars broadcast and on social media. It will continue running in movie theaters into the summer blockbuster season around films like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which hits theaters May 23.

Both Carnival and Samsung worked with Disney Advertising and other partners to create their ads, according to both companies, though Martin Ziegenfuss said the idea to feature stunts originally came from Disney Advertising.

“They had a real desire to honor stunt performers who are so much a part of making movies magical,” Martin Ziegenfuss said. As the potential for a new stunt category at the Oscars continues to be discussed, “the brands coming together with Disney and a few other partners was a big part of the effort to try and really raise awareness” for continued stunt recognition in the industry, she said.

Samsung, which aired two ads, used its spots to highlight the Galaxy S25’s AI capabilities, and the team credits the “perfect intersection of shared creative direction between brands” for striking the balance between spotlighting stunt performance and brand identity, according to Olga Suvorova, VP of mobile experience marketing at Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung elected to debut two spots that aired on the live broadcast and Hulu’s stream, with one featuring stuntperson Steve Brown fighting an adversary after getting a personalized reminder on his phone, and the other showing stunt actor Milly Nalin performing a fall off a building while a cameraperson captures the scene on a Galaxy phone, using the Audio Eraser feature to remove errant noise.

Both spots are now running across CTV, digital, and social channels, with a new spin-off campaign called “Do Try This At Home” extending via social series.

“Having two separate storytelling angles gave us the chance to showcase a few of our new Samsung Galaxy S25 experiences powered by Galaxy AI while celebrating more of the creative industry’s most exciting community members who may not always be in the spotlight,” Suvorova told Marketing Brew in an email.

All five of the stunt-sponsoring brands also collaborated with each other to cross-promote their work. Brand representatives from each brand worked together in a virtual “social media war room,” Martin Ziegenfuss said, where they coordinated commenting on each other’s posts and amplifying their work after the spots aired. Working together was not only fun and collaborative, but a good brand opportunity for Carnival, she said.

“As a marketer, I think about the company we keep, and you want to be together with other marquee brands,” Martin Ziegenfuss said. “We love that we were with a great set of brands.”

And we’re live

The five brands involved in the stunt performer initiative vary in their Oscars involvement thus far—Kiehl’s made a first-time appearance, while Samsung has activated around Hollywood’s biggest night in the past. This year, the Oscars delivered 19.7 million viewers, a slight YoY increase thanks to more people watching on PCs and mobile, and a 4.54 rating in the 18–49, demographic, up from last year’s 3.82, per Variety.

The Samsung campaign also “drove significant volume on social, which is an important aspect of our full-funnel marketing approach to bridge traditional and digital media and tell our story across the entire consumer journey,” Suvorova said.

For Carnival, homing in on live experiences like the Oscars, Grammys, and sporting events will be a major strategy moving forward—regardless of if they’ll all feature stunts.

“It’s a much more engaged space, and we find that our [target customers] are really interested in the brands that are talking, as well as what’s happening onscreen, as well as what’s happening on social,” Martin Ziegenfuss said. “That’s why we choose these kinds of events…it’s also a much more leaned-in moment.”