Spider Man joins in on the action during new Captain America movie trailer

If you are a comic book fan than there is a lot to be geeked about when it comes to the blockbuster super hero movies being released this spring.  Batman versus Superman, X-Men: Apocalypse and Captain America: Civil War are bringing a lot of comic book characters to the silver screen including one of my all time favorite super heroes, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.  Disney just released a new trailer for Civil War and while Captain America may have his name on the movie title could it be that Spider Man steals the show?



From the trailers and stills released about Captain America: Civil War no matter how big or small the web-crawler's role may be it is guaranteed the film it is going to be filled with an incredible number of super heroes ranging from Ant Man to Iron Man engaging in some epic battle sequences.

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters across the United States on May 6, 2016.  It pits Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Ant Man versus Iron Man, War Machine, Black Widow, Vision, Black Panther...and Spider Man.  These two teams are battling over the fate of Steve Roger's boyhood best friend and military sidekick Bucky Barnes, who was transformed into the villainous assassin Winter Soldier after being thought lost for dead during a World War II combat mission with Captain America, regarding his involvement in the incidents of  Captain America: The Winter Soldier plus they are in conflict about whether "enhanced individuals" like the Avengers should be registered and controlled by the United States government.

So are you rooting for Team Captain America or Team Iron Man in this super hero civil war?  I'm torn because I support Cap's principles but Tony Stark has recruited a team made up of characters that I'm so much more hyped about seeing in the movie.  So it is a toss up for me.  The one thing I do know for sure is that I'm excited to see Spider Man join in on the action!

For more information about the movie, visit  marvel.com/captainamerica

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Actress Scarlett Johansson Banned From SuperBowl

Well she's not actually been banned from being at the game, but the SodaStream ad featuring actress Scarlett Johansson has been banned from airing during the television broadcast of the SuperBowl.  SodaStream, which manufactures machines that allow people to make their own carbonated soda beverages at home, planned on having Johansson seductively pitch their product during a tv commercial on FOX's broadcast of the big game.  Fox has banned the advertisement from airing though.  Check it out:

FOX claims the advertisement is too HOT for TV, but not because of any sultry scenes.  Rather the commercial breaks a network rule of not letting products criticize competitors, at least ones that have also purchased ad time, in commercials during the SuperBowl broadcast.  So they yanked this SodaStream ad from the game night commercial rotation because Johansson ends it with "Sorry Coke & Pepsi". 

Hmmm I do believe though that I've seen Pepsi & Coke poke fun at each other in their ads before during the game.  Could it be that the network didn't want to touch another HOT topic when it comes to this advertisement, the potential flare up from special interest groups that don't like the company SODA STREAM.  SodaStream's machines are build and imported to the United States from Israel, which wouldn't be a big deal except that the manufacturing facilities are located in contested territory of the West Bank and therefore made the business a target of criticism by some Arab advocacy, charitable, and constituency groups.  Scarlot Johansson has already been publicly criticized for her endorsement of this company by several of these groups. A conspiracy theorist might take from this that maybe rather than the content of the commercial being blocked but rather the NFL and FOX wanting to stay clear of any association to this Mid East conflict. Of course I'm not a conspiracy theorist so that is probably nonsense ... or is it?  

The ban of the SodaStream ad was probably a good thing though because their "SuperBowl" tv commercial really isn't very good and it is probably getting more attention now than it would have from airing during the big game because of the controversy.  This has been a controversy filled week for the actress who was also involved with complaints from women's issues and health care advocacy groups criticizing the newly released Captain America movie poster.  Critics contend Johansson's portrayal in the poster was photoshopped to give her an un-naturally small waist and argue that this markets an unhealthy societal image for women and girls.  What do you think of the poster?

When you see advertisements for products during the SuperBowl or posters for movies do you look at the bigger picture regarding issues like have been brought up with these two marketing pieces or do you just focus on the products being promoted in the ad?  Something to think about as we're about to be flooded with promotional messages on February 2nd as every marketer that has an opportunity tries to grab a second of your attention during the biggest television viewing audience of the year to make an impression for their client.