Astral Tequila, the official tequila partner of "Practical Magic 2," is giving the movie partnership its own plot.
Ahead of the Warner Bros. film's release, the brand is releasing "It's Midnight Somewhere."
The five-part social microdrama stars real-life sisters Brooks and Grace Ann Nader.
Created with production company Merman, the series takes the film's iconic Midnight Margaritas and makes them part of the story.
"We knew Astral Tequila’s Practical Magic 2 partnership could be so much more than traditional product placement," Jenn Rapp, director of portfolio tequila and mezcal at Diageo North America, told DesignRush.
"The Midnight Margaritas scene is so iconic, rooted in sisterhood, collective joy, and magic.
And we wanted to capture that same energy in a format native to how people consume content today."
The episodes use reality TV-style confessionals, humor, mystery, and cliffhangers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.
"It's Midnight Somewhere" debuts on August 26, ahead of the film's September 11 theatrical release.
Madelaine Turner directs the series after building an audience through viral parody videos and social-first brand work.
Her TikTok following tops 480,000, while previous collaborations include Adobe, Gucci, and PlayStation.
The promotional strategy gives Astral Tequila a narrative reason to showcase its partnership with the movie.
It also gives audiences several pieces of content to follow before they reach the theater.
Astral sits well behind Don Julio and Casamigos in parent company Diageo's tequila lineup.
A scene fans already quote does the brand awareness work that a media budget would otherwise have to keep buying.
Astral Gives Midnight Margaritas a New Scene
Astral's entertainment partnership centers on the Midnight Margarita.
The cocktail comes from the original film's sisterhood scene and has picked up its own fan following.
The drink gives Astral Tequila a reason to exist inside the "Practical Magic" world with on-screen sisters Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
The brand's version combines Astral Tequila Blanco, fresh lime juice, coconut, and ice.
The drink also serves a specific creative function in the microdrama.
Rapp shared that the team made the Astral Midnight Margarita "the catalyst" for the characters to come together.
The series can't run without the cocktail, so Astral gets screen time the script itself demands.
"The episodic format creates a reason for viewers to keep coming back, whether they’re superfans of the film or discovering the world for the first time.
For a young brand like Astral, this partnership and content series represent our biggest cultural moment to date," Rapp added.
Brooks and Grace Ann add another layer through their real-life relationship.
Their chemistry supports the sisterhood theme, giving them something genuine to draw on.
Astral's campaign also goes offline with a four-city Margarita Tour featuring a branded trailer, tarot readings, and giveaways for fans 21 and older.
The campaign gives one piece of movie nostalgia several jobs across social content, product trial, and in-person experiences.
$7.8B Microdrama Growth Makes the Format Hard to Ignore
Microdramas have become a significant mobile entertainment category, giving brands a growing audience for serialized storytelling.
Deloitte forecasts in-app micro-series revenue will reach $7.8 billion globally in 2026, more than double its 2025 forecast of $3.8 billion.
Sensor Tower also reported that short drama apps generated nearly $700 million in global in-app revenue in Q1 2025, almost four times the Q1 2024 figure.
The U.S. accounted for49% of that revenue, raking in nearly $350 million in Q1 2025.
The format is gaining attention from brands because audiences are spending more time with serialized short-form entertainment on mobile.
The data points to three implications for marketers.
- Serial storytelling creates repeat behavior. Brands should give audiences a reason to return to each episode to increase repeated exposure.
- Mobile entertainment is a serious media category. Brands should design stories for mobile viewing to meet audiences where they are already.
- Format growth creates room for branded entertainment. Marketers should connect products to narratives to make branded episodes worth following.
Astral's approach shows why branded entertainment pays off commercially when a brand already owns a story world audiences recognize.
Our Take: Can Nostalgia Draw in an Offline Audience?
Nostalgia gives Astral a ready-made reason for audiences to care about a tequila Diageo has been rebuilding since 2022.
The Midnight Margaritas scene already has cultural recognition, and the four-city tour gives fans a way to recreate its social ritual.
With stops in Boston, Chicago, Brooklyn, and New York, fans can immerse themselves in cocktails, tarot readings, and photo opportunities.
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We think the strategy should work because nostalgia marketing becomes more effective when people can participate in it.
Astral extends the same idea across the microdrama, the Margarita Tour, and the cocktail itself.
Each piece gives the partnership another way to pull audiences back in.
Nuuly is testing a similar idea with its 12-part social microdrama "Heart On My Sleeve."
These campaigns show how brands are increasingly using serialized stories to attract audiences.
Brands looking to develop serialized social content can explore these top social media marketing agencies for partners with social strategy and platform expertise.
