Producers of The Mechanic, an action thriller starring Jason Statham as a hit man, needed a unique promo to stand out amid the din of movie madness bombarding the media and consumers today. They were thinking T-shirts, but some creative thinking brought a variation of that theme to mind.

Pre-release marketing to the press is critical to success in the movie business. Rather than giving traditional T-shirts to members of the press covering the movie, as well as to other potential moviegoers, the movie’s marketers had the shirts shrink-wrapped and compressed into the shape of guns, playing into the movie’s theme to make a bigger impact on T-shirt recipients.

To boost the film’s visibility, a quick response (QR) code was added to the compressed tees, which, when scanned by a user’s smartphone, takes the user directly to the movie’s website and trailer. The technology, in conjunction with promotional items, and particularly apparel products, is a popular trend. QR codes are an ideal marketing tool to combine with product promotions – that is, if you have the right promotional partner to ensure that the pieces really fit together.

This promo has certainly helped to garner a wealth of media attention for the film’s release. Do you have a need for a T-shirt compressed into a special shape to tie in to a unique campaign? We can help you fit everything together so that your campaign brings results.