Comic-Con Branding: Marvel Recruits S.H.I.E.L.D. Fans with Acura

Posted by Mark J. Miller on July 7, 2011 04:00 PM

Ever wonder who brings together Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, the Incredible Hulk, and all the rest together to form the Avengers?  (And don’t say it was the writers at Disney-owned Marvel Comics.)

It was, of course, S.H.I.E.L.D., a secret government organization. And now fans can join.

Marvel will be using S.H.I.E.L.D. at the massive annual Comic-Con comic book convention in San Diego to drum up interest in the film Captain America: The First Avenger, which debuts right smack in the middle of Comic-Con (taking place July 20-24th) as well as The Avengers, which doesn’t come out till 2012.

The key to this is letting any of the show’s 150,000 attendees sign up to be part of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Those who can't be in San Diego can visit JoinSHIELD.com, which is sponsored by Acura, which also sponsored Marvel's Thor. Additionally, “actual set pieces from the movie (will be) placed on the show floor as part of a faux-security and recruiting station for S.H.I.E.L.D.,” according to FirstShowing.com.

Some of the film’s stars (and the movie features such folks as Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo) are scheduled to appear at the convention to stir up fan enthusiasm as well.

S.H.I.E.L.D. recruiting vehicles (Acuras, natch) will be around San Diego to snag any stray conventiongoer who misses the marketing push happening with the convention’s walls.

(Source: www.brandchannel.com)

Date posted: July 18, 2011