Steven Seagal: The New Face Of the Russian Arms Industry

From the bizarre-but-kind-of-makes-sense category, comes reports from the Associated Press that Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin wants 80's American action star and black belt in Aikido, Steven Seagal, to become the face of the Russians arms industry. Seagal, famous for movies such as Under Siege, and more recently for Machete and a reality show in which he works as a reserve deputy sheriff, is apparently old friends with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and visited a Moscow martial arts school with him back in March this year.

Video credit: Guardian 

Rogozin and Seagal visited the Degtarev arms plant together on Tuesday, with the deputy prime minister saying, "you’re ready to fight American (manufacturers) with your teeth and your intellect, and if Americans are prepared to promote and support you, that says we’re learning new ways to work on corporate warfare markets."

Rogozin said that Seagal may be the face of an international marketing campaign to promote the plant. Rogozin has also reportedly asked Seagal to help lobby the U.S. to ease restrictions on the importation of Russian rifles.

The potential pairing of Seagal and Russia seems fitting given Seagal's background and Putin's macho image. I mean, who would not want to buy weapons made in a country run by this guy:

Image credit: Pandith News

...and promoted by this guy?

Perhaps this will lead to a new arms race, so to speak, with major arms manufacturing countries all seeking the face of an aging action star to promote their products. Between Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and others, there are certainly plenty to go around.