Inside Samsung's $100 Million 'Matrix' Deal

[Guest ClintEastman]

When The Matrix: Reloaded opens in cinemas this week, moviegoers can expect to see Samsung playing a major supporting role. The electronics' giant has ponied up around $100 million to promote itself to a wired young audience through the Warner Bros. release. 

Samsung's deal to become a global marketing partner on the movie ensured that it not only took over from Nokia in the original film, but it also gained exclusive footage to use in its ad campaign. (The release's other sponsors are General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac, Heineken and Coca-Cola Co.'s Powerade.) 

Unenviable job 

Charged with executing Samsung's global ad campaign, Interpublic Group of Cos.' Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide, New York, had the unenviable job of playing liaison between its Korean client and the Hollywood studio. 

"[Producer]Joel Silver is a strong, opinionated producer, notorious for squashing people at a moment's notice. The Korean Samsung people also had strong opinions about what's right for them," said Luke Bailey, senior vice president and global creative director at FCB. "The Matrix world is so involving and dramatic that we had to be careful that Samsung didn't suffocate." 

Behind locked doors 

Warner Bros. was incredibly secretive throughout the filming process. The FCB team was told only one of them could read the script and that would happen behind a locked door with a security guard out front. The creative team's solution was to hire the movie's assistant director, James McTeigue, to direct the campaign itself. In order to use the green scrolling Matrix codes that play an integral part of the movie, FCB had to deal with Bouf, the French production company that owned the copyright. 

The time factor was another problem. The FCB team had a month and a half to complete the production. 

Adding to the ticking clock were the logistics. Mr. Bailey said, "We are in Los Angeles, but we're dealing with New York and then later in the day Korea and then at midnight we'd deal with France." 

FCB Global Creative Director Jim Mochnsky added: "It was an amazing experience that we completed in an unbelievable amount of time. It was the energy of the project that kept you going forward." 

Four new products 

The spots feature four new Samsung products -- an LCD TV and plasma TV, a limited edition Matrix phone and a new mass-market camera phone. The spots for Samsung's new TV products broke May 9; the cellphone spots are due to air roughly two weeks after the movie's May 15 debut.

That NASTY Matrix phone is in "Animatrix" and "Enter The Matrix"!!! :)

[Guest Mr_Protozoa]

I've seen the ad on TV.

Looks like a nice enough 'phone'. But somehow that just doesn't cut it nowerdays!

[Guest ClintEastman]

This is the NASTY Matrix phone!! :shock:

[Guest Mr_Protozoa]

OH JESUS CHRIST NOOOOOOOOoOOoooooooOOOooooo!!

It's a fookin childs toy!

[Guest ClintEastman]

As i have said before......

Go to pick up a call and it squirts water in your eye!! :)

[Guest siu99spj]

There's only one word for something like that: UGLY

Shame they couldn't have done something reasonable after all the money they pumped into getting it noticed. Tsk, I don't know, some companies.

[Guest theodotcom]

Just to let you know it's actually a real phone, speaking to a samsung rep she told me that although it is an ugly thing they are going to release a few in america but she doesn't think they are gonna release and over here because there won't be a demand for it. I told her she was right :)

[Guest ClintEastman]

I know it's real (that link has the FCC reports in it) that's why i can't beleave it!!!! :)

[Guest Will]

the twisty screen ? WHY?

is this a tabletphonePC?

Will