Sony Pictures just handed Samsung the kind of product placement money can barely buy, and Samsung's foldables are the ones in the spotlight. Ahead of Spider-Man: Brand New Day hitting theaters on July 31, Samsung and Sony Pictures have launched the Spidey Tracker, an interactive website that lets fans follow Spider-Man “sightings” online and at real-world locations through the summer.
What's new
The Spidey Tracker is pulled straight from the film. In the movie, Ned Leeds, played by Jacob Batalon, builds a tool on a Galaxy device to track Spider-Man's movements, and Samsung has turned that fictional gadget into a real website running in 35 countries. Fans can follow reported sightings, hunt down Easter eggs, and unlock cast appearances and content drops through the site and the @SpideyTracker account on X.
Why it matters
The interesting part isn't the website, it's which phones the film puts on screen. Spider-Man carries a Galaxy Z Flip 7, while Ned leans on a Galaxy Z Fold 7 and a Galaxy Watch to do his tracking. Putting the clamshell in the hero's hand and the big foldable in the role of the tech-savvy sidekick is a deliberate split, and it frames foldables rather than a standard Galaxy flagship as the gear that matters.
Key details
Samsung is treating this as a summer-long campaign rather than a one-day launch. The studio's own partnerships chief, Jeffrey Godsick, frames the tie-in around Spider-Man's connection to his community, which is the same “human connection” angle Samsung keeps attaching to its foldables. Spider-Man-themed moments are planned across live events, venues, and creator videos between now and release, with the Spidey Tracker site as the anchor.
Takeaway
Product placement is nothing new, but choosing the Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7 over a Galaxy S flagship says something about how Samsung wants the lineup seen. The Flip as the hero phone and the Fold as the power-user tool is a pitch Samsung has made for years, now wrapped in a Sony Pictures release millions of people will watch. Whether it sells a single extra foldable is unknowable, but as a reach play it's hard to argue with.
