NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Nissan Motor is planting actors in movie theaters to perform live commercials before the start of the latest "Matrix" movie, a report said Thursday.

The New York Times said the automaker's new campaign, which started Wednesday in theaters operated by Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp., is intended to pique the curiosity of younger consumers about its Altima sedan.

The brief in-person pitches, featuring actors delivering lines that evoke words spoken by poets, are timed to accompany a commercial on the movie screen. The ads begin without identifying the sponsor but concludes with the Nissan (NSANY: down $0.57 to $23.59, Research, Estimates) Altima logo, the paper said.

The effort, by Nissan's North America division and an agency named True, is part of a larger initiative for the Altima carrying the theme "Who are you?" which is designed to open the minds of jaded, skeptical consumers, according the Times.

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Sony Ericsson is another company that has used such non-traditional methods to sell products. The cell phone maker has hired actors and actresses to play tourists at U.S. landmarks and ask passers-by to photograph them with Ericsson's T68i cell phone, which can also serve as a digital camera.

Nissan's campaign is an intelligent risk in the business of trying to create attention, which is something you have to do, Jonathan Cropper, senior manager for youth and urban communications at Nissan North America, told the paper. "If you get comfortable doing things the same old way, it becomes an impediment," he added.