Vitaminwater, My Code Spotlight Muralists Redefining Neighborhood Identity

A mural doesn't just decorate a wall, but also tells a neighborhood who it is.

Vitaminwater and My Code are back with round two of that idea.

The brands today launched "Neighborhue: Still in Color," the next installment of their branded content platform spotlighting artists turning city walls into landmarks.

While the first season focused on restoring faded murals, this one follows the work as it continues to evolve.

It traces how public art holds on to identity and belonging long after the paint dries.

"We believe creativity is a powerful force for connection and self-expression," said Hillary Horton, vitaminwater Brand Director at The Coca-Cola Company.

"The response to the first season of Neighborhue reinforced just how deeply people connect with stories rooted in community and culture."

Horton added that the brand wanted to introduce audiences to muralists whose work reflects the identity of their communities.

My Code and Remezcla were the natural partners to help tell those stories nationally.

My Code CEO Amani Duncan saw the project as an insider's view more than an outsider's take.

"The best storytelling doesn't just represent a community, it comes from inside it," Duncan said.

She pointed to featured muralists Don RIMX and Carlos Mateu as artists who truly live and embody the neighborhoods they paint.

Two Cities, Two Murals

The series follows Don RIMX (David Sepulveda) in Orlando.

Here, he revisits his mural "El Chamán" to explore how public art connects cultural memory with present-day community life.

In Brooklyn, Carlos Mateu returns to "El Paso Del Tiempo."

It's a piece he created alongside residents that traces the neighborhood's own evolution.

Each artist's segment is presented like a mini-documentary, letting the muralists narrate their own process.

While Don RIMX's chapter has rolled out, Mateu's Brooklyn feature is set to follow on July 20.

The content spans My Code's owned and operated ecosystem, including Remezcla's channels, and covers documentary films, short-form video for Instagram Reels, and more.

My Code's Model for Grounded Neighborhood Marketing

More brands are courting multicultural, younger consumers, and they acknowledge that the story has to come from someone who belongs at the heart of the community.

Hispanic shoppers alone represent roughly $2.7 trillion in spending power and contribute 23% of U.S. dollar growth, and that influence is only growing.

Separately, research found 84% of Hispanic consumers are more likely to become customers of a brand that plays a positive role in their family and community.

To those watching this space, "Neighborhue" offers a few lessons:

• Trust your artists to be the narrators: Letting Don RIMX and Carlos Mateu tell their own stories is what makes the series feel organic and far from sponsored.
• Let the work outlive the campaign: Both murals already existed before Neighborhue arrived, meaning the content has long documented real community fixtures.
• Scale distribution through community-first media: Routing content through Remezcla puts the series in front of audiences who are primed to care.

Continuity will play a bigger role here. 

If the series evolves and doesn't just repeat Season 1 and 2's format, vitaminwater shows it has a platform it intends to keep building.

Our Take: What Happens After the Cameras Leave?

Campaigns are temporary, but murals take decades to fade. 

It stays long after the content stops running, and that's the part brands usually get wrong.

Vitaminwater opted for a slower approach, choosing to spotlight a wall that was already standing before the brand showed up and will keep standing after.

We like that the brand isn't asking these artists to make something new for the cameras, and instead dives deeper into what their work means to them and the community.

You can't fake those kinds of stories. 

If Season 3 wants to top this, we'd love to see it follow what happens to a neighborhood five or ten years after a mural like El Chamán goes up.

Because that's the payoff nobody's telling yet.