Editorial: How The Man of Steel a become a golden opportunity for the film industry

Do you remember when lots of people had to go and see a film before it made money? As we report today, the latest in the Superman series, Man of Steel, has already made over £100m from a record number of promotional deals and the film hasn’t even opened yet.

Admittedly, Superman’s latest adventures cost a fair amount to shoot, rather more than £100m, so if people do go and see the film, all well and good, but you get the picture. The plethora of product placements, meanwhile, poses questions about corporate overload.

How many brand-name goods can Clark Kent, wear, eat, or clean himself up with, before audiences glaze over instead of wanting to buy them? Even if audiences do catch all the brands on screen, true Superman devotees may well think it’s a shame that the caped crusader, the little man’s friend if ever there was, has ended up such a pal of big business.