Unless you’ve been in France or Los Angeles at any point in the past two weeks, chances are you don’t know how “Iron Man 2” will end.
But there is at least one thing any viewer can be sure about regarding the $200 million film’s protagonist, Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.: His basement lab will still be filled with plenty of machinery used to construct and modify the exoskeleton suit.
As moviegoers munch on the popcorn, they’ll notice the lab features some Northeast Ohio-flavored product placement. Euclid-based Lincoln Electric literally lent an arm to “Iron Man 2” during its production as part of a product placement agreement. The arc welding manufacturer’s FANUC ARC Mate 100iC robotic arm will make a few appearances in the expected blockbuster and will be visibly fueled by Lincoln’s Power Wave i400 welding power source.
What won’t be seen is Lincoln Automation Application Group robotic programmer Brian Simons secretly manning the arm’s teach pendant, which guides its movements and welding processes. But Simons was behind the machine during multiple takes, and said Lincoln’s $80,000-plus machinery is ideal for Iron Man’s armor.
“He’s a pretty high-tech guy, so he wants to use high-tech equipment, Lincoln equipment,” Simons said of the Stark character. “It’s just showing, in his shop, the tools he uses to build his suit. A lot of the scenes we shot were just the robot moving around, as well as welding scenes with the robot welding in the background while Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow (who plays Pepper Potts) are interacting.”
Simons visited the film’s set at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, Calif., for a combined seven days during a few trips west. There, he gave in-house demonstrations and on-the-fly programming.
None of that was new to him, except for the part about doing it in front of a director for a big-budget film. It all worked out and the Automation group believes Simons and the product itself justified the Lincoln selection.
“There’s a lot of different equipment in his workshop, but this really stood out,” said Scott Skrjanc, the Lincoln event marketing manager the company says was largely responsible for securing the product placement opportunity. “It was a pretty cool experience to have people at that level go, ‘Wow, this is cool, we really like this.’ ”
The impression was lasting enough that Downey Jr. and director Jon Favreau autographed the arm. It now sits in Lincoln’s Automation building. The Lincoln decision was easy for Ironwork Productions II LLC, a Marvel subsidiary because Lincoln’s Precision TIG 375 welder package and Power MIG 255XT were both in the first “Iron Man,” though the robotic arm will be much more prominent.
Given that history, the film’s prop master contacted Lincoln about including the automation cell and power source in welding and plasma-cutting scenes, Skrjanc said. Lincoln Electric spokesman Greg Coleman said the company did not pay for product placement like Burger King and others did in the first “Iron Man.”
But the global company with 38 manufacturing locations isn’t a stranger to the spotlight. Lincoln is the official welder of NASCAR and its products were featured in films like “Cast Away” and “Home Alone 2,” as well as in television series like “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “Two Guys Garage.” Still, “Iron Man 2” is by far the biggest multimedia project the company’s products have been featured in. When Marvel calls and the words “feature film” are included, participating is basically a no-brainer, Skrjanc said.
“We can’t wait and have a meeting, we have to do it now,” Skrjanc said. “We want to be the one when there’s an ‘Iron Man 3’ or another Marvel movie. When they need welding equipment, I just want them to pick up the phone. They don’t even have to debate.”
Nobody at Lincoln Automation has seen “Iron Man 2” yet or knows exactly how the robotic arm and power source will look on the big screen. But they have received a few Twitter comments in recognition of the product placement, which only increases their anticipation.
“I took the day off,” Skrjanc said of his plans to see the movie today. “I already bought the tickets.”r content here...
Courtesy of Brandon Baker, News-Herald, May 7, 2010 Complete story available at:
http://news-herald.com/articles/2010/05/07/news/doc4be39b5437d60290565268.txt