If you've found yourself wondering "Who is Lonnie Hawkins?" or "Is Lonnie Hawkins actually Will Ferrell?", you're not alone.

Over the past few weeks, Lonnie Hawkins has been appearing everywhere. From social media posts and interviews to a surprise SKIMS campaign with Kim Kardashian, the fictional golfer has built a presence that feels remarkably real. Many people have discovered the character before they've even realised he's promoting Netflix's new comedy series, The Hawk.

That's exactly the point.

Rather than relying on trailers, posters and traditional advertising, Netflix has done something much more interesting. They've treated a fictional character like a creator, giving him his own identity, a social presence and brand partnerships that exist independently of the television show itself.

It's one of the clearest examples yet of what we believe is the next evolution of influencer marketing.

Who Is Lonnie Hawkins?

Lonnie Hawkins is the fictional lead character in Netflix's upcoming comedy series The Hawk, played by Will Ferrell.

Instead of introducing audiences to Will Ferrell promoting another television show, Netflix introduced Lonnie Hawkins as though he were a genuine sporting personality. The character appears in interviews, social content and brand campaigns while remaining completely in character, making the line between fiction and reality intentionally blurry.

For anyone discovering him online, there isn't an obvious moment where the campaign begins or ends.

You're simply following another personality.

That approach is a world away from traditional entertainment marketing and that's exactly why it's generating so much conversation.

Is Lonnie Hawkins Actually Will Ferrell?

Yes.

Will Ferrell plays Lonnie Hawkins in Netflix's new comedy series, The Hawk, but the marketing deliberately separates the actor from the character.

Rather than watching Will Ferrell appear on chat shows promoting a new series, audiences are watching Lonnie Hawkins exist as though he were a real celebrity. He's appearing in content, collaborating with brands and building awareness before the show has even launched.

It's a subtle difference, but an incredibly powerful one.

Instead of promoting a programme, Netflix is building a personality.

Why Everyone Is Talking About the SKIMS Campaign

One of the campaign's biggest moments came when Lonnie Hawkins appeared in a SKIMS campaign alongside Kim Kardashian.

On paper, it's an unusual collaboration.

In reality, it's a brilliant piece of marketing.

Rather than treating the partnership as another advert for the series, Netflix placed the fictional golfer into a genuine fashion campaign, allowing both brands to benefit from the conversation.

For SKIMS, it created an unexpected cultural moment that people wanted to share.

For Netflix, it introduced millions of people to the character without feeling like television marketing.

The collaboration feels organic because it doesn't interrupt people's feeds with another trailer.

It gives them something entertaining instead.

The Rise of Character-First Marketing

We've spent years talking about creator marketing.

Now we're entering the era of character-first marketing.

Instead of partnering with influencers once something launches, brands are creating personalities that audiences genuinely want to follow before release day even arrives.

Netflix hasn't marketed The Hawk.

It's marketed Lonnie Hawkins.

That shift changes everything because audiences build a relationship with the character first. By the time they discover the show, they're already invested in the personality behind it.

It's storytelling before selling.

Entertainment before promotion.

Entertainment Is Replacing Advertising

One of the biggest shifts we've seen across social media over the past few years is that audiences increasingly reject content that feels like advertising.

They'll happily consume entertainment.

That's exactly what this campaign delivers.

Rather than interrupting feeds with trailers and promotional clips, Lonnie Hawkins creates content that naturally belongs on Instagram, TikTok and other social platforms. People engage with it because it's funny, unexpected and feels like it belongs in culture, not because they're actively looking for a new television series to watch.

The marketing becomes the content.

And that's where its power lies.

Characters Are Becoming Influencers

For years, brands have partnered with creators because audiences trust personalities more than advertising.

Character-first marketing takes that idea one step further.

Instead of borrowing someone else's audience, brands create a personality capable of building an audience of its own.

That fictional character can:

• Create original social content
• Collaborate with creators
• Appear in brand campaigns
• Attend live events
• Generate press coverage
• Become part of cultural conversations

In many ways, they're doing exactly what influencers already do.

The only difference is they're fictional.

Why This Matters for Brands

This isn't just relevant for streaming platforms or film studios.

It's a glimpse into where brand partnerships are heading.

Consumers increasingly connect with stories rather than products. They remember personalities more than campaigns and they're far more likely to share something entertaining than something promotional.

That opens up exciting opportunities for brands across every industry.

Rather than building campaigns solely around products or services, businesses can create recurring personalities, fictional worlds or brand characters that audiences actively want to spend time with.

We've already seen mascots become social media stars.

Character-first marketing simply takes that idea much further by giving those personalities genuine depth and cultural relevance.

The Future of Brand Partnerships

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Lonnie Hawkins campaign isn't the content itself.

It's the collaboration.

The SKIMS partnership demonstrates that fictional characters can become legitimate collaborators for real-world brands, creating marketing moments that benefit everyone involved.

Imagine:

• A gaming character partnering with a food brand.
• A fictional detective fronting a travel campaign.
• A streaming character launching a fashion collaboration.
• A brand mascot becoming a recurring social creator.

These partnerships no longer feel unrealistic.

As entertainment, creator marketing and advertising continue to merge, they're likely to become increasingly common.

It also creates an entirely new type of influencer marketing.

Instead of partnering with established creators, brands can collaborate with fictional personalities that already have recognisable identities, engaged audiences and their own stories to tell.

What Brands Can Learn From The Hawk

The biggest lesson isn't about Netflix.

It's about audience behaviour.

People don't engage with content because it's an advert.

They engage because it's entertaining, culturally relevant and worth talking about.

The most successful campaigns increasingly blur the line between entertainment and marketing, creating ideas that people actively seek out rather than scroll past.

For marketers, that's a valuable reminder that the format often matters just as much as the message.

When promotion feels like content, audiences are far more willing to engage with it.

Pepper's View

At Pepper, we've spent years saying that creator marketing isn't really about creators.

It's about personalities.

Lonnie Hawkins proves exactly that.

Whether that personality is a creator, an employee, a customer or a fictional character almost becomes irrelevant. What matters is whether audiences genuinely want to follow them.

The most successful marketing no longer interrupts culture.

It becomes part of it.

That's why we believe the future of influencer marketing will be less about one-off campaigns and more about building personalities that can entertain, collaborate and create value long after a product, programme or campaign launches.

Netflix hasn't just promoted a television show.

It's created a creator.

Lonnie Hawkins has effectively become an influencer before audiences have even watched The Hawk.

For brands, that's perhaps the most interesting part of the entire campaign. It suggests the next generation of influencer marketing may not always involve human creators at all, but carefully crafted characters that can build audiences, collaborate with brands and exist far beyond a single campaign.

We think we'll be seeing a lot more of that over the next few years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Lonnie Hawkins?

Lonnie Hawkins is the fictional lead character in Netflix's upcoming comedy series The Hawk, played by actor Will Ferrell.

Is Lonnie Hawkins played by Will Ferrell?

Yes. Will Ferrell plays Lonnie Hawkins, but Netflix has promoted the fictional golfer as though he were a real public figure with his own social media presence and brand partnerships.

What is The Hawk?

The Hawk is an upcoming Netflix comedy series starring Will Ferrell as former golfing legend Lonnie Hawkins, whose career takes an unexpected turn years after his time at the top.

Why did Lonnie Hawkins appear in a SKIMS campaign?

Netflix partnered with SKIMS as part of the launch campaign for The Hawk, allowing the fictional character to appear in a real-world fashion campaign before the series premiered.

What is character-first marketing?

Character-first marketing is a strategy where brands build audiences around fictional personalities rather than promoting products or content directly. These characters create social content, collaborate with brands and become part of culture before the main campaign launches.

What can brands learn from the Lonnie Hawkins campaign?

The campaign shows that audiences engage more deeply with entertaining personalities than traditional advertising. By creating characters people genuinely want to follow, brands can build anticipation, increase organic reach and create partnership opportunities that feel like culture rather than marketing.