Superman is now a super brand hero

His Achilles heel was always the green glow of Kryptonite, but now Superman has found a green symbol he actually enjoys — the dollar. The latest reboot of the Superman film franchise, Man of Steel, opens this week. But unknown to the fans, it also promises to covertly showcase dozens of products. From a Clark Kent-inspired glasses collection by Warby Parker to a new Nokia mobile phone, which presumably will have super-signal, the film will be littered with placed products from commercial partners.

While promotional tie-ins and product placement are nothing new in Hollywood, the sheer number of partners for Man of Steel is. The clamour to reference products has been so strong that Warner Bros has almost 100 promotional partners lined up, which has earned it $170 million already. Brands, including Chrysler, are now thought to have given Man of Steel the dubious accolade of having accrued the most advertising brands ever associated with a film. Before doing any business at the box office, the film has recouped three-quarters of the $225 million it cost to make.

“Companies are looking to the film industry to promote their brands, as films are a great source of integrated advertising. And they provide aspirational characters, which companies are keen to associate their products with,” said Ryan Newey of the advertising agency Fold7. Some fans have questioned whether the clean-living hero should be associated with junk food, including pizza and a “super bacon cheeseburger”, as he is in the new film.

Danny Rogers, editor of America’s advertising bible, Campaign magazine, said: “It depends on the brand and the film: it works in the Bond films because, even in the original books, Fleming quoted brands. But sometimes it doesn’t work so well and people won’t even notice — particularly when there are 100 product tie-ins.” He said Hollywood was becoming “pushed for cash”, while brands were trying to “get closer to content” rather than relying on advertising. The Independent