Posted 2:15 PM by Gene

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To ease some of the pain, studios have again enlisted the help of Madison Avenue firms, whose client brands will pony up considerable coin -- mostly overseas -- to tie in with tentpoles.

For example, partners like General Mills, Target, Mattel, Lego, Esurance and Puma are shelling out more than $80 million in promo support for WB's "Speed Racer."

Similarly, "Iron Man" has its own shopping list of brands, including Audi and LG Electronics, while "The Dark Knight" has Nokia, Domino's, General Mills and Microsoft's Xbox on board. M&Ms, Dr. Pepper, Expedia and Kraft Lunchables will shill for "Indiana Jones." And naturally, brand-friendly "Sex and the City" isn't left out, with Mercedes-Benz, Skyy vodka, Coty fragrances and Glaceau Vitaminwater.

Brands with multiple movie pacts include Burger King, which is cooking up promos for "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk" and "Indiana Jones," while 7-Eleven is also supporting "Iron Man" and "Hulk."

All have ads planned to roll out weeks before the pics unspool with in-store and in-theater ads and displays, TV, print, radio, direct mail, sweepstakes and online campaigns.

Alas, this enthusiasm is followed with a question:

The studio marketing machine may be working overtime to get its messaging across to moviegoers. But is it too much?

Nothing is too much for any CEO who wants to live forever.

The only thing these TENTPOLES are missing are commercial breaks.

P. S. from March 16:

"It's part of Americana," Steve Greer, Big G's global equity and events director, said of the franchise. "It's a classic that will always be part of a kid's and a family's world."

We wonder why more of these people with six-figure do-nothing jobs in consumer products don't run for Congress. They don't merely mouth clichés, they live them.