PDA for PDFs

For Minhaj, the opportunity to partner with Adobe on the campaign and collaborate with them in the making of the creative in celebration of the PDF’s 30th anniversary was one that left him feeling “really touched,” although he admits to actively using the product in his everyday life for “call sheets, film scripts and standup scripts.”

Fun fact: Among those scripts was the recent blockbuster, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse. Minhaj told Adweek he was brought on to help authenticate the storyline of the film’s Indian Spiderman; a full circle moment for him after making the 2012 short film, “Indian Spiderman,” in which he played “Hasan Peter Patel.”

“[Acrobat] touches every part of my creative life and personal life,” he says, while also citing that growing up in Northern California, many of his family and friends worked in Silicon Valley, giving him an extra soft spot for tech and innovation.

“I know how much blood, sweat, tears and effort go into product launches, and how difficult it is to create a piece of software or hardware that lasts the test of time,” says Minhaj. “So, the fact that Adobe reached out, and the fact that Acrobat has been around for 30 years and going … yeah, it’s a really cool accomplishment to go, ’Yeah, they asked me to be a part of that campaign’ … it’s a nice little feather in the hat, and I appreciate it.”

He continued, “I know that brands have a very long list of people that they want to work with. And the fact they wanted to work with me on this iconic achievement in their software legacy means a lot. Like, that’s really cool.”

Another thing he found really cool…smashing the printer.

“You gotta love an ‘Office Space’ moment. Getting to destroy an office was great. Anytime you can just get that middle-management aggression out … is always a plus. It was a good shoot.”