Iron Man kicks it into high gear

I know I've been blogging mostly about "Iron Man 2," but there is honestly just that much to commend Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures for. For instance, they have slowly been building the excitement around the movie through different television spots and revamping their entire Web site dedicated to "Iron Man 2." They've even set up two viral marketing Web sites I've mentioned in earlier posts.

I am writing this post because Marvel has just released a new trailer. You might think, "big deal, they all show the same scenes anyway," but this time, they've made this one interactive. Yes, that's right, as the trailer plays, it hits check points that you can refer back to after you've watched the preview--and you'll want to do that too.

Each of the checkpoints dive into a mini gallery of the character in that snippet, and it also pulls up a biography on whomever you might have clicked on. Just check it out for yourselves.

At the same time, Marvel has also released their first joint commercial with business sponsor Dr Pepper. From now through September, Dr Pepper cans will don Iron Man's front profile as part of a well integrated public relations/marketing strategy. I think this will bode very well for the Iron Man franchise because this means that publicity efforts will stretch far past the movie's release date, keeping Iron Man in everyone's brain for much longer than just the first two weeks in theaters.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is the commercial.

It was a good week for Iron Man

Last week was certainly eventful for Paramount and Marvel in terms of promoting their new flick, "Iron Man 2." Just in time to coincide with San Francisco's comic extravaganza, WonderCon, the production companies released and distributed lots of new promotional goodies all week long.

On Mon., March 29, Marvel released a new poster for the movie featuring cast members Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Gwenyth Paltrow.


On Tuesday, new mini-posters spotlighting the movie's hot hot heroine Black Widow, played by Johansson, were being given out for free at Iron Man 2's booth at WonderCon. That same day, Marvel added to its viral marketing campaign and launched a new fictional Web site featuring a digital map of the Stark Expo grounds, downloadable wallpapers, videos about the original Stark Expo with a 1970s-esque feel and a countdown to the opening day of the expo (really, it's a countdown to the movie's release date).


On Wednesday, a new trailer was released, this time promoting the "Iron Man 2" IMAX experience.

On Thursday, Marvel launched a new and improved movie Web site presenting up-close views of Tony Stark's armor, downloadable wallpapers and buddy icons, an expansive picture gallery of official movie stills and theatrical trailers and teasers.

And finally, last Friday, Marvel and Paramount released three new never-before-seen movie stills just to top the week off.