Ice Age Cometh

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Century City, CA, scored more than $85 million in promotional support for the Nov. 26 home video release of Ice Age.

The campaign features more than 14 marketing partners for the spring 2002 film, which took in more than $180 million at the box office. Among the more notable activity:

• Westlake, CA-based Dole Food Co. will place stickers on 100 million bananas and host a sweeps.

• New York City-based Bloomingdale’s will offer the video free with purchase and support with newspaper ads, P-O-P displays, catalog exposure, direct mail, and in-store events.

• Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, will dangle a combined $75 off four software products with video purchase and support with TV spots, online activity, and direct mail.

• Largo, FL-based Cox Target Media will highlight the release on more than 70 million of its Val Pak co-op mailers.

Other partners include Aurora Foods’ Van De Kamps Frozen Seafood Day’s Inn, Langer’s Juice, Papa John’s International, National Hockey League, Applebee’s International, and Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.

For the first time since 1985, four-time US Open tennis champion John McEnroe will take to the courts at this year’s finals — this time to play fans. United Airlines, Chicago, activated its sponsorship of the U. S. Tennis Association last month by hosting a sweepstakes offering four hour-long court sessions with McEnroe. Winners will be flown to New York City for the private sessions and courtside seats for the tourney’s men’s and women’s singles finals Sept. 7 and 8. Promotional materials including counter cards at airports, on-flight videos, and Internet and national print ads supported. Frankel, Chicago, handles.

Randolph, MA-based Dunkin’ Donuts and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines last month kicked off an effort offering Boston-area consumers round-trip airfare from Beantown to New York City for $78 — a flight which typically costs $200-plus — with purchase of two pounds of coffee (a $9.99 value). Buyers get a certificate redeemable at Boston’s Logan Airport. Entry cards for a sweeps dangling 25 round-trip Boston-to-New York tickets are available at area donut shops. Cohen Friedberg Associates, Framingham, MA, handles.

Chevrolet, Warren, MI, and the Colorado Lottery expanded their long-time marketing alliance with Chevy Road Trip, an instant-win game on $2 lottery cards distributed at 7-Eleven outlets and local grocery stores throughout the state. The effort runs through November with a top prize of four Chevy Avalanches. Four million scratch cards are in circulation, backed by P-O-P displays, radio station remote broadcasts, and newspaper ads. The car maker’s in-house agency, Thousand Oaks, CA-based General Motors R*Works, handles.

More than 10 million consumers from 200-plus countries voted this spring in Hackettstown, NJ-based Masterfoods USA’s M&M’s Global Color Vote. The winning color, purple, will be added to packaging for a six-month run starting this month. The three-month promo (April PROMO) was the biggest in the brand’s 61-year history. The effort was handled by New York City shops Grey Interactive (for online work), Porter Novelli (p.r.), and BBDO (advertising), along with Rydal, PA-based TJ Paul for retail activity and Garden City, NY-based D.L. Blair for administration.

Stamford, CT-based Mott’s Inc.’s Hawaiian Punch this month begins giving away 13,500 HitClips miniature CD players from Hasbro, Inc., Pawtucket, RI, in an instant-win campaign that runs through May 2003. Promotional messages will run under caps and inside packages of more than 17 million units. Participating SKUs include large-sized bottles of Hawaiian Punch, all sizes of Hawaiian Punch Apple Sauce, and 14-ounce bags of Soft and Chewy Candy. Ryan Partnership, Westport, CT, handles.

Blockbuster, Inc., Dallas, is sponsoring the Sprite Liquid Mix 2002 music tour, which brings hip-hop and rock artists to 15 cities from Aug. 20 to Sept. 8. Part of a five-year marketing alliance struck between the chain and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. in March, the tour features the Blockbuster Lounge, an on-site gaming pavilion. Direct mail, in-store activity, and Web links support.

AT&T, New York City, is visiting nine cities through mid-month to pitch its AT&T Unlimited long-distance plan. A branded 30-square-foot tent replicates a living room where consumers can play games, listen to music, and enter a sweeps that will award a one-week interest in a Marriott Vacation Club International property. Visitors enter via eight kiosks in the tent. DVC Worldwide, Morristown, NJ, handles.

Proctor & Gamble will step up its three-year-old association with UNICEF this fall by offering up to $700,000 in support for the charity’s annual Trick-or-Treat campaign. Cincinnati-based P&G will donate 10 cents for every bottle of Dawn or Downy purchased (up to $300,000) from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 and 10 cents for every Dawn, Downy, Bounce, or Dryel coupon redeemed (up to $200,000) from a Sept. 29 FSI drop to 55 million homes. P&G will also directly provide a $200,000 grant to back an education curriculum.

Loews Cineplex Entertainment, New York City, is hosting a Picture Perfect summer campaign in conjunction with General Mills, Minneapolis. Cut-out cards on one million packages of Mills’ Pop Secret offer free popcorn or soda refills at all Loews’ theaters, where employees are handing out eight million scratch-and-win game cards delivering 50,000 prizes. The cards double as entry into a sweeps that will select one person for a chance to win $1 million by answering 10 movie trivia questions. Customers who buy concession items this month receive coupons good at Toys “R” Us for Disney Tunes KidClips Radio Players from Tiger Electronics. Marinelli Communications, New York City, handles for Loews, with print and radio ads from the Ad Store, New York City.

Pepsi-Cola Co., Purchase, NY, is teaming with mall operator Simon Brand Ventures to promote Pepsi Twist through the soda maker’s tie-in to New Line Cinema’s July 26 release, Austin Powers in Goldmember. Through Sept. 1, shoppers who present any Pepsi beverage at a Simon customer service center in 156 malls get a free spin on a prize wheel for a chance to win Motorola phones and other items. Action Marketing Group, Boulder, CO, handles. A separate sampling tour will tout new launch Mr. Green at Simon malls through Sept. 27, with shoppers participating in a Microsoft Xbox game contest to win gift certificates and other prizes.