Major consumer brands usually wait until high-profile media events like the Super Bowl to unveil marketing campaigns led by the biggest names in Hollywood. But sometimes there simply isn't enough time to wait for cultural tent-pole moments. That appears the be the case with a new campaign just unveiled by smartphone maker HTC, which features none other than Robert Downey Jr. in a new series of commercials.
The new spots never mention the actor's iconic role as Iron Man (the highest grossing movie of the year), but nevertheless feature the actor looking and speaking exactly as Tony Stark might during one of his international adventures of intrigue. So far, HTC has only revealed three 16-second video clips, two of which feature Downey Jr. on his way to a meeting in a helicopter, while the final video shows him entering a conference room full business people, uncuffing himself from a briefcase, and announcing a new acronym explanation for the letters HTC:"Here's To Change."
After the teaser spots, the first full-length commercial featuring Downey Jr. will debut on YouTube on Aug. 15. "Our original and playful Change platform is different to anything else out there and aligns our brand with the same qualities our phones are already known for," HTC chief marketing officer Ben Ho said in a statement.
According to Bloomberg, the Taiwanese tech firm paid the actor $12 million to star in the campaign, which will span two years. However, without discussing Downey Jr.'s involvement specifically, HTC recently told Engadget that the global campaign will last 24 to 36 months and has an overall value of $1 billion.
HTC is not the first phone maker to team up with Hollywood bigwigs. Samsung recently partnered with Jay Z to offer the rapper's new album via Galaxy devices. In the past, meanwhile, Apple has teamed up with the likes of Martin Scorsese, John Malkovich, Zooey Deschanel, and Samuel L. Jackson to push the iPhone. For more, see the slideshow above, as well as Inside the Tech of Iron Man.
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