Avengers corporate marketing consortium Aaaaaasssssssemmmmmmbbllllleeeee!  We’re just over one month out from the May 4 premiere of The Avengers.  If for some reason it’s not already perpetually occupying your thoughts, rest assured that, over the next few weeks, you won’t be able to turn on the TV, browse the Web, even leave your house without having the image of a Marvel superhero kicking ass burned into your brain.  It starts right now, with the release of this 34-second international TV spot.  Basically, the clip boils down to a quick summary of the film’s conflict (superheroes at war with Loki and co.) plus a helpful breakdown of the various Marvel icons that make up The Avengers.  Fortunately for people who already know all this stuff, that info is delivered via a giddy-squeal-inducing verbal throwdown between Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). You bet your ass they’ve “got a Hulk.”

But that’s just the beginning. Hit the jump to see the spot and for news on the massive synergistic marketing push being launched by Marvel in collaboration with companies like Acura, Dr. Pepper, and Harley-Davidson. [Update: A domestic TV spot has hit the web, and we've now included it below alongside the international one.]

 

the-avengers-chris-evans-captain-america-image
Image via Marvel Studios

Just as Disney/Marvel’s been cultivating its various superhero film franchises with an eye on uniting them for The Avengers, so too has it been putting together a crack team of promotional partners that will, in the weeks leading up to (and following) the film’s May 4 release, band together to save mankind from the ominous threat of people not going to see the Avengers with a combined $100 million worldwide cross-platform campaign.

Per Variety, your saviors include: Acura, Visa, Harley-Davidson, Hershey, Farmers Insurance, Dr. Pepper, Wyndham Hotels, Land O’Frost lunchmeats, Colantotte bracelets, Red Baron pizza, Symantec, and Oracle, many of which have appeared in/marketed for previous Marvel films. Beginning April 1, you’ll see a host of Avengers-themed ads, TV commercials, radio spots, websites, packaging art, promotions and specially commissioned comic books from these companies.

the-avengers-thor-chris-hemsworth-image

Some of the more noteworthy promotional stuff includes Acura providing a primer on S.H.I.E.L.D. with a website that allows users, among other things, to “test Avengers technology mounted on S.H.I.E.L.D.-edition Acuras”; Colantotte selling replicas of Tony Stark’s magnetic polarity bracelet and releasing a special downloadable comic; Wyndham plugging the film to its hotel guests; and Hershey, Red Baron and Dr. Pepper adorning their product packaging with Iron Man and the gang. Much of this will be targeted primarily at North American consumers.

Products that make the most prominent appearance in the film itself include Acura (returning as the official vehicles of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Harley-Davidson (Captain America’s bike), Oracle (Iron Man’s computers), and Colantotte (Stark’s bracelet), the latter of which will also feature a cameo from the company’s CEO and a shot of the storefront.

It’s a motley crew filled with big egos that’s sure to butt heads/slogans, but they’ll no doubt find a way to put aside their differences for the greater good (i.e. capitalism).

the-avengers-captain-america-chris-evans-image