Earthmoving supplier Caterpillar has continued its trend of featuring its heavy equipment on the big screen, with ‘attentive’ audiences able to spot a Caterpillar excavator hiding in an auto salvage yard in the recent film Transformers: The Last Knight.
With the Transformers franchise renowned for its action-packed scenes and extensive use of special effects, this collaboration marks the fourth time the company has featured in Hollywood blockbusters – some of the supplier’s machines also featured in Aliens and two of the James Bond films.
According to a company statement, the excavator’s movie release highlighted the “shared attributes” between Caterpillar and the Transformers franchise.
“The attributes associated with the Transformers movie franchise – strength, loyalty and protection – line up perfectly with the Caterpillar brand,” Caterpillar’s global marketing innovation manager for construction equipment Jessica Nunley said in the statement.
“As we develop new products for the jobsite of the future, we’re all about transformation. We want to help our customers change the construction industry for the better,” she added.
The futuristic film collaboration comes a year after the company announced that the industry had “entered the Age of Smart Iron”.
As previously reported by Quarry, the Age of Smart Iron – a concept unveiled by Caterpillar at a 2016 exhibition in Germany – refers to “making equipment smarter,” meaning the jobsites of the future will more than likely have entire fleets digitally connected and therefore ‘speaking the same language’.
“We have entered the Age of Smart Iron and I can think of no better way to exemplify this paradigm shift than to join forces with the iconic Transformers movie franchise,” marketing manager for Caterpillar’s construction and infrastructure division Kurt Norris added in the statement.
Transformers: The Last Knight opened in Australia on 22 June.
More reading
Solving operator challenges in the technology age
Australia hailed world leader in construction tech innovation
Quarry’s cameo in comic book film
Disasters strike quarry fantasy locations
Action film puts quarry on the red carpet
Quarry gains international fame through TV show
Cat HEX the star in 007 sequence
Demolition contractor lets rip at the movies