If Superman's "Gawrsh!" look after causing about $500,000 in damage to a city street doesn't convince you that he's not currently locked in a life-or-death struggle, then just look at literally everything else in the ad: Life is going on like normal. That construction worker not only showed up to work today, but is on his lunch break. Either he has the worst fucking union contract ever, or aliens are not currently trying to genocide the hell out of humanity. Which means Superman is just bouncing around, wrecking shit, because he wants to.
Again, that's the point -- we all know this. It's what people have been bitching about since the day the movie came out. But only one brave marketing intern working at Hardee's dared tell us before the film was even released.
By the way, did you know that Man of Steel set the record for the most promotional tie-ins ever? It's decisions like that that allow IHOP spokesmen to explain that being an IHOP manager is pretty much like being a superhero -- a claim so preposterous, it actually broke the advertisement:
"Does the company take issue with the fact that Superman's boyhood antagonist ends up working for IHOP?"
"Well, I think it signifies a good career choice, personally. If you can't be Superman, you might as well be another superhero."
"What do you mean?"
"IHOP managers go above and beyond."
That "What do you mean?" is the closest Business Insider will ever get to publishing the words "Haha, the fuck did you just say?"
3
The Hunger Games Subway Ad Warned Us About the Tyranny of Our Corporate Overlords
When Subway developed their new Sriracha chicken sandwich, they knew they needed a marketing campaign that would accent how bold the flavor was. And when they landed a tie-in marketing deal with the new Hunger Games movie -- a film crammed, jam-packed, perhaps even grotesquely swollen with raw, unfiltered boldness -- the message they needed to go for became instantly, inescapably clear. "Of course!" the marketer cried, thrusting his fist in the air with exuberance, "we'll tell everyone that eating our sandwich will get you executed by an oppressive fascist state!"
![5 Movie Tie-In Ads With Subversive Anti-Capitalism Messages]()
![5 Movie Tie-In Ads With Subversive Anti-Capitalism Messages]()
"Bold."
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