The Haunted House sure is getting crowded. Character-based Halloween promos get a few new wrinkles this year with a pair of properties that extend the marketing scares right through November.
Burbank, CA-based Walt Disney Co. and Emeryville, CA-based Pixar open animated comedy Monsters, Inc. on Nov. 8 with Disney’s biggest-ever marketing effort complemented by more than $175 million in tie-ins from 13 partners including PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Kellogg Co., McDonald’s, and Wal-Mart.
Much of the support comes from the “power of one” deal Disney struck with sisters Pepsi-Cola Co., Frito-Lay, and Tropicana, with each putting lead brands together for extensive P-0-P and premium offers. “The [‘power of one’] was done with Star Wars, but it’s a first for Disney,” says Cherise McVicar, vp-promotions with Disney’s Buena Vista Group. “The three can make wonderful noise in the marketplace.”
Purchase, NY-based Pepsi and Plano, TX-based Frito-Lay have mail-in offers for $5 off a Hasbro Monsters, Inc. toy; Bradenton, FL-based Tropicana’s Twister and Dole juice brands dangle a Monsters, Inc. projector light SLO.
Oak Brook, IL-based McDonald’s unleashes a Happy Meal program. Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, MI, launches an in-pack instant-win sweeps for Pop Tarts and seven kids’ cereal brands: Winning boxes “scream” when opened. Grand prize is a bedroom makeover via Disney Stores. Premium offers and themed products support. DraftWorldwide, Chicago, handles.
Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL, touts Monsters, Inc. Macaroni & Cheese shaped like the four main characters and on-pack door hangers. Multipacks carry a Monsters, Inc. key-chain (via 141 Communicator, Chicago).
Shrek Redux
Shrek must be one tired monster: The video of DreamWorks’ $261 million-plus blockbuster hits shelves Nov. 2 (less than two months after it left theaters on Labor Day) with new — and several returning — partners. “I think it’s by far the shortest window of theatrical-to-video for an animated film,” says Kelly Sooter, head of domestic home video at DreamWorks, Glendale, CA.
Promos center on an in-pack instant-win game with millions of prizes including a Kia minivan, video games, and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox game console, with each player scoring at least a free ice cream from returning partner Baskin-Robbins. The Glendale, CA-based chain revives “Shrek’d Out” chocolate mint. Norm Marshall & Associates, Sunland, CA, handles.
Westbury, NY-based 1-800 Flowers is launching a multi-million dollar TV campaign and Shrek-themed flower baskets with the video inside via Max Goldberg and Associates, Los Angeles. Garden City, NY-based TDK launches a new Shrek videogame, timed to the Nov. 8 launch of Xbox. “Fourth quarter is traditionally the hottest of the year … so we’ve been in death-march timing to get things ready,” says Andrea Frechette, TDK Mediactive brand manager.
Other brands leverage older properties. Plano, TX-based Dr Pepper/Seven UP lets the spooks loose with the A&W Munster of a Home Theater effort linked to Los Angeles-based Universal Studios’ The Munsters, its fourth tie to the franchise. Through October, bottles and 12-packs carry an instant-win game awarding a home theater system; smaller prizes include a TV/DVD player and DVD gift certificates. (Sunkist and Welch brands participate in some markets.) Lift Packaging and Promotions Creative, Inc., Atlanta, handles.
Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, taps Los Angeles-based MGM’s extensive video library for a month-long Get Your Party Vamped instant-win on-pack game in 40,000 stores (September PROMO). Zipatoni, St. Louis, handles;
Through Nov. 30, General Mills, Minneapolis, packs a free 13 Days of Halloween Rhythm and Boos CD inside four million packages of Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry through a deal with Los Angeles-based Fox Family Worldwide. The CD has music from Fox shows; boxes have Fox characters. TV, print, online ads and an FSI support, handled in-house.
Better keep those lights on this ghoulish season.
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