• by Aaron Baar , April 1, 2009

It's one thing to have a hero of a summer blockbuster use your phone to save the planet. It's quite another to raise the possibility that your phone could actually be the hero that saves the day.

LG Electronics has entered into an exclusive marketing alliance with Paramount Pictures to help cross-promote the release of the summer action picture "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." The plot of the film once again pits ordinary machines that turn into sentient robots battling over the planet.

The partnership will include product placement in the film (although it's unknown whether the phones will actually transform in the film). LG will also launch a multifaceted marketing campaign -- which will include television and print advertising -- around the film's release in June. LG will also use the movie to launch a limited-edition Versa phone.

"Movies in general allow us to reach and talk to consumers in a different way," company representative Demetra Kavadeles tells Marketing Daily. "We're drawn to productions where technology is a focus of the film."

The promotion is the second for LG, which had a tie-in with last year's "Iron Man" (also from Paramount). That film and the "Transformers" sequel share a similar theme, according to Kavadeles. "We've been very particular in the films we've picked to partner with, particularly when it comes to the technology in them," she says. "In 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,' technology is the main character."

The movie opens in theaters on June 24.