Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer is becoming a holiday tradition at CVS Corp., too. The Woonsocket, RI-based drug store chain is tying in with Golden Books Family Entertainment’s evergreen property for the second year in a row.
CVS ran an exclusive program in ’98 offering limited-edition character collectibles in the six weeks leading up to Christmas, with two six-inch plush bean bags introduced each week to spark multiple visits from would-be collectors.
The toys were merchandised via counter-top displays and corrugated stands that also housed Golden Books’ Rudolph videos and books. National TV, spot radio, in-store signage, and weekly circulars hitting 30 million households supported. Stuffins of Manasquan, NJ, made the collectibles.
The toy line’s roster included Rudolph and Santa Claus, but also featured secondary characters from the program’s Island of Misfit Toys scenes that hadn’t been merchandised since the show first aired on TV in 1964, says Gary Hymowitz, vp-licensing at Golden Books. The rarity of the characters contributed to their appeal, which created lines outside stores and a complete sell-out of the toys, he says. (Hymowitz and others declined to divulge how many toys were sold, for fear of affecting their value in the collector’s market.)
This year’s effort keeps the same theme but expands to eight weeks and 16 collectibles. In addition to more Misfits, the offer will include three characters from another Golden-owned holiday classic, Frosty the Snowman. CVS will kick in a bigger TV buy along with radio spots and circulars.
Golden Books is happy to provide an exclusive to the 4,200-outlet CVS. “This takes us out of the back of the store and puts us up front,” says Hymowitz.
That’s nice positioning for a bunch of misfits.
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