While comic book fans often roll their eyes at tie-in marketing, the recent hamburger TV spot struck a successful balance, delivering forgivable in-your-face advertising thanks to a humorous concept, a charming reaction from the Man of Steel himself, and some slick CGI landing and flying. Now, the Warner Bros. ad gurus hope to turn one of the most-talked-about questions from the Man of Steel trailer and turn it into an engaging tie-in marketing campaign. So, how exactly does Superman shave his beard?
Nearly every Man of Steel trailer features Henry Cavill shirtless on an oil rig - with a full-on super beard. Of course, this isn't the only time that fans of the comic book series have seen a bearded or stubbled Superman but, given the promise that Man of Steel will sport a "believable" story, Clark Kent's beard became a major point of speculation and contention.
In fact, the beard was enough to throw fan-favorite comedian, Conan O'Brien into a full-on geek rant - with the late night talk show host swearing off the movie (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) entirely. Here's what O'Brien had to say, following the release of the second Man of Steel trailer:
In an effort to poke fun at the absurdity of the Superman shaving routine conundrum, Warner Bros. has partnered with razor blade company Gillette in order to offer a range of potential answers to the question.
You can see the Gillette TV spot (which includes new Man of Steel footage) at the top of the page, then check out the "expert" testimonials below - including director/comic book fan Kevin Smith, TV personality/mechanical engineer Bill Nye, actress/neuroscientist Miyam Bialik, as well as Mythbusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage :
-
-
-
It's unlikely that Zack Snyder bothers to address the shaving question in the actual Man of Steel film, so in an effort to deliver a "definitive" answer, Gillette has set-up a web portal where Superman fans can vote on which of the above four explanations is their favorite - so head-over to HowDoesHeShave.com to weigh-in. That said, to find out the favorite among Screen Rant readers, vote in our poll below!
[poll id="612"]
The Gillette website also features a section where fans can add their own theories - or discuss the various opinions from the panel of "experts." Though, if you're planning on spouting off the popular "he'd burn the hairs using a mirror to reflect his own heat vision" theory, keep in mind that this "grounded" Superman's heat vision would melt terrestrial materials used to form aluminium glass mirrors (and their housing). That is unless he used the Kryptonian glass from his spaceship to protect the aluminum backing - and successfully reflect the heat-vision! Does Kal-El's Man of Steel spaceship have windows? If not, Zod's Black Zero certainly does!
What is your Man of Steel/Superman beard shaving theory?
____
Man of Steel will hit theaters on June 14, 2013.
Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for more on Man of Steel as well as future movie, TV, and gaming news.
Source: Gillette [via Bleeding Cool]