Those who have watched Angels and Demons in the cinemas would have noticed a sleek, black, cross-over like hatchback that Professor Robert Langdon and physicist Vittoria were travelling in. The car is a Lancia Delta, a third generation model to use the legendary "Delta" badge. Numerous Alfa Romeo 159, another brand under the Fiat Group, were also used throughout the movie.
The product placement in Angels and Demons was organized by Lancia and its creative agency Armando Testa from Rome with Sony Pictures (it also explains the Sony LCD screens used in the movie).


Fiat (owner of the Lancia brand) had to go through pretty extreme lengths in order to make the product placement possible. The biggest problem was that filming for Angels and Demons began as early as 2008, almost one full year before production of the Delta model will begin. Even pre-production models could not be ready on time by 2008. The new Delta was only premiered in the 2009 Geneva Motor Show in February.

Lancia had to make a few (unspecified number of units) one-off models with many parts still in prototyping stage in its Cassino plant in Italy. These specially made models for filming also had to be fully functional and reliable enough to work properly throughout the filming period. According to Lancia, the rear windows of the cars used for filming will be different from series production models as filming requirements necessitate the use of fully transparent windows rather than the standard darken items that will be used in series production models.


In conjunction with the movie's release, a new advertising theme "One angel, 200 demons," were also used in Europe, highlighting its double soul; angelic, but with 200 demons under its hood.


An online competition, offering the grand prize of a Lancia Delta is also underway in Italy.
Lancia is subsidiary of the giant Fiat automotive group. The once illustrious Lancia brand has been through some pretty depressing time over the last 2 decades. The last right hand drive Lancia car was made in 1994. Under the leadership current Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne, there were big plans to revive the slowly dying Lancia brand, starting the reintroduction of the new Lancia Delta to the United Kingdom by late 2009. UK is Fiat's largest export market. Introduction to the USA is also rumoured to be in the plans, if talks with Chrysler is successful.

To many enthusiast, the mere mention of the Delta badge would remind them of the legendary World Rally Championship conquering Lancia Delta HF Integrale. Subsequent generations of the Delta models were toned down and made more luxurious to target a wider clientele group.
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1 comments:
Watched the movie last night, the Delta looked pretty darn good!
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