Pentagon vehicles play robot villains

The evil alien robots of the “Transformers” live-action film that opened yesterday at theaters nationwide have some controversial alter egos: combat vehicles used by the U.S. military in Iraq and elsewhere, according to Bloomberg News.
Opposing these villains – who transform into an F-22 Raptor fighter jet, from Lockheed Martin Corp., a Sikorsky Pave Low combat helicopter from United Technologies Corp., and an armored bomb-removal truck from Force Protection Inc. – are a cadre of heroic robots based on the Transformers action figures and video games, who fight alongside U.S. soldiers in the film.
Pentagon officials and the vehicle makers see this product placement as a way of making military service attractive to teenage boys. “We’re getting a positive military message out to hopefully millions of people who see the film,” said Army Lt. Col. Paul Sinor, who worked with the filmmakers. “You can’t buy that kind of publicity, and it’s our demographic.”
Analysts aren’t so sure. The Paramount Pictures film – plus related action figures, puzzles and video games – is an extension of a popular brand that has generated $3 billion in sales for Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc. since its inception in 1984. But allowing a product – in this case, the military vehicles – to be associated with the villains is “unusual,” Brad Adgate, research director at Horizon Media Inc. in New York, “It’s an interesting move for the Department of Defense, because the product is not being shown in the best light. If it works, it’s genius. If it doesn’t, it’s ‘What were they thinking?’”