• by Karl Greenberg , June 7, 2013

"Man of Steel," the newest caped caper from Warner Brothers, is riding into town in the bed of a Ram Truck. 

Ram is one of nearly 100 brands that has helped support the film (the Hollywood Reporter says promotional deals have infused around $170 million into the production). 

And while there are Ram trucks in the film, the vehicles are vintage. The automaker is running a co-branded TV spot that melds scenes from the film with shots of the 2013 Ram 1500 in action. The spot ends with the Ram logo, followed by Superman’s emblem. 

The voiceover in the 30-second spot, which mixes movie scenes with Ram footage says: “Everyone has the ability to do something amazing … Some just do it on a more regular basis.” It closes with the Ram logo and the words “In dealerships everywhere” followed by the “Man of Steel” logo and “in theaters everywhere June 14.” The television ad will run in network and cable entertainment, news and sports programing beginning June 4. The Richards Group, based in Dallas, handles creative.

And Ram is unveiling a "Man of Steel" show truck at the movie's June 10 premiere in New York. The truck will then be on display at special events throughout the summer and fall, including the National Finals Rodeo and State Fair of Texas, bef ore being auctioned off for charity later.

Marissa Hunter, head of advertising for Ram Truck, tells Marketing Daily that the brand is staying away from making in-cinema activation and pre-roll ads part of the promotional plan. 

The idea isn’t for people seeing the movie to glom onto the vintage trucks, since it’s distracting. The external activations, she says, "are where they will see the alignment.” In addition to the TV spot and show truck, there’s a one-time print ad running in the June 7 issue of USA Today that is probably going to end up a collector's item: Ram got DC Entertainment comic artist Shane Davis to do the illustrations for the ad

"We are always looking for new, fresh ways to get the brand aligned with other programs to reach new audiences, and film is part of the mix," says Hunter, adding that getting the classic Ram into the movie -- and the promotional relationship -- was a long process involving a lot of conversations with executive producer Christopher Nolan and director Zack Snyder. "We made sure they were educated that whatever we did would be done with proper care. It's a creative process really, and the conversation happened over quite a few months to get to this point."