Dog Days at Wal-Mart

ONE LUCKY DOG travels to the nation’s capitol next month to represent the U.S. as Masterfoods and Wal-Mart wrap up a three-month campaign saluting working dogs.

The international effort, dubbed Paws to Recognize: A Canine World Heroes Tribute, lets Wal-Mart shoppers in the U.S. vote for their favorite among six working dogs — rescue, guide and police dogs.

The account-specific effort supports Pedigree Little Champions and leverages Pedigree’s new sponsorship of Wal-Mart’s FLW Outdoor Fishing Tournament in seven markets. Pedigree hosts parking-lot activities during tourneys at 1,300-plus stores, including exhibitions by canine organizations and handlers and a Dash for the Bass game. Pedigree distributes Little Champion samples and trading cards with photos and stories of the six dogs. Consumers go to pedigree.com to vote for their favorite. Cards are also given away at Wal-Mart’s NASCAR Simulator events in 60 stores, sponsored by Pedigree.

The winner joins top dogs from 10 other countries in the new Canine World Heroes Walk of Fame at the Humane Society of the United States’ headquarters in Washington, DC. The 11 winning dogs will also appear on a calendar premium available at Wal-Mart in September and October.

Wal-Mart displays, stickers on packages of Little Champions and print ads in pet magazines support. Ryan Partnership, Wilton, CT, handles with an assist from New York City shops Aronow Pollock on p.r. and Grey Interactive for online voting.

Hackettstown, NJ-based Masterfoods hopes to boost consumer awareness of Little Champions at Wal-Mart, and build a reputation for Pedigree and Wal-Mart as leaders in recognizing working dogs.

Ryan initially pitched Masterfoods on a local Canine Community Hero campaign that let individual Wal-Mart stores honor local dogs. But Masterfoods’ international team for Wal-Mart promos liked it enough to take it to Wal-Marts in more than 10 countries. “We wanted to create a global program that would involve our pet food units around the world,” says Paul Kramer, Ryan’s president of channel marketing.

“While many programs honor working canines in a specific service area or in a limited geographic region, the Paws to Recognize program is unique in its global reach,” says John Curtiss, general manager of Masterfoods USA Pet Care. Last year, Pedigree partnered with the American Kennel Club and USA Network to salute dogs working on Sept. 11 recovery efforts. “This sparked an idea that professional canines contribute in a wide range of service areas,” Curtiss says.

FLIP THROUGH THE CHANNELS and there’s something for everyone — culinary, home improvement, wrestling, fitness shows — but a program devoted to cats, and for cats? That’s the latest addition to the dial thanks to The Meow Mix Co. The cat food manufacturer in May aired the first episode after a study showed that 22% of cat owners watch shows that their furry friends enjoy, too. The half-hour show appears on the Oxygen Network and includes segments called Squirrel Alert and Cat Yoga.

To get the word out, Secaucus, NJ-based Meow Mix is in the midst of a mobile tour. The Meow Mix TV Tour stops in nine markets from Los Angeles to Denver to New York City through July 27. Contestants can add a twist to the Meow Mix jingle, create an original song, recite cat poetry or juggle balls of yarn before a rotating panel of judges, including American Idol finalist Julia Demato.

The top acts from each market are posted at meowmix.com/tour where the fans vote for their favorite performance to be featured on the second episode of “Meow TV.” Grand Central Marketing, New York City, handles the tour.

COMPLEX, A NEW YOUNG MEN’S magazine, is teaming up with Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO, on a summer promotion for the brewer’s Zima brand. Starting this month, music CDs produced by Complex will be available as a gift with Zima purchase. Zima product packaging will feature a code that can be plugged in at zima.com to redeem the CDs. More than 30,000 CDs will be available. Complex will also produce a custom publication for Zima called Start Your Night, featuring articles on music artists, style and nightlife. More than 150,000 guides will be available at select retailers selling Zima. The promotion builds off of Zima’s “Start something” print campaign running in Complex. FCB, San Francisco, handles. Introduced last year, Complex is a bi-monthly with a rate base of 300,000. Clothing company Ecko Unlimited produces the magazine.

Back in Blonde

BLONDES NOT ONLY HAVE MORE FUN, they bring in more cash. MGM’s Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde opens July 2 with an estimated $50 million in marketing support and nearly a dozen partners.

The original 2001 film brought in more than $95 million at the box office with only four promotional partners. This time, 11 partners are lined up for the release.

In the film, Elle Woods, the bubbly blonde lawyer played by Reese Witherspoon, heads to Washington, DC, to tackle cosmetic testing on animals, which made it a challenge for MGM to find tie-in partner choices in a few cases. “There aren’t a lot of companies that can say they don’t do animal testing,” said Helene Bousel-Cohen, VP-promotions for the Santa Monica, CA-based studio.

Although promotions for the first film were successful — Clairol’s Herbal Essences scooped up a 2002 Reggie for its tie-in — OPI Products is the only returning partner. Additional Blonde 2 partners are Sephora, Stila, Frederic Fekkai, Sanyo, Mikimoto, Gateway, Mattel’s My Scene.com, Limited Too, Pizza Hut and The Pottery Barn catalog. The companies’ support spans national TV and print advertising and grassroots, p.r., online, text messaging and other initiatives.

New York City-based Estée Lauder’s Stila brand has created Blonde-themed makeup books. The product exclusively sells at Sephora for $45. Stila will donate a portion of proceeds from the books to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Plus, Stila and Frederic Fekkai, both New York City, are hosting a sweepstakes in Sephora stores offering a hair makeover from Frederic Fekkai himself.

OPI, N. Hollywood, CA, has a print campaign in publications such as Marie Claire and Elle Girl touting its Red, White and Blonde nail polish collection. Among various sweeps in the magazines, consumers can win a private screening of the film, shopping sprees and movie tickets.

Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Cingular, AT&T and Sprint have collaborated for a program to promote text messaging. Users key “BLNDE” into cell phones to enter a drawing for an H. Stern ring (worn by Elle in the film). Elsewhere, Poway, CA-based Gateway is leveraging its product placement of a custom pink Notebook in the film with trailers, P-O-P displays and an in-store promotion.