Mars Snackfoods Supports ‘Indy’ Film
Mars Snackfoods U.S. is rolling out a campaign to support the latest action adventure film, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Limited-edition, movie-themed M&M’s and Snickers candy, a themed Web site, print and TV advertising spots and a NASCAR Indy-themed car will all hype the film.
Branded to the film are M&M’s latest flavor Mint Crisp Chocolate Candies, which features a mint flavor with a crispy center surrounded by an M&M’s candy shell. Likewise, the Snickers Adventure Bar offers chocolate, nougat, peanuts and a kick of spice and coconut flavor. These limited edition flavors will be available through June.
“Indiana Jones”-themed packaging will appear on M&M’S Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches, M&M’S Ice Cream Cones and Snickers Ice Cream Bars.
The campaign also includes an interactive component. Visitors to http://www.mms.com can embark on quests of their own. The site features online games where players face precarious situations with, quicksand, snakes and flaming doors. People can also watch the movie trailer and download themed wallpaper.
Mars Snackfoods is also using its NASCAR sponsorship to boost the film, which hits theaters May 22. Driver Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s brand Toyota Camry will sport a special “Indiana Jones” paint scheme. The paint scheme features the movie title decals on the hood, trunk and TV panel, an image of Indiana Jones on the left rear panel and the M&M’s Red, Green and Yellow characters sporting various movie-themed outfits. Busch himself will wear a fire suit designed around the campaign during the Dodge Challenger 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Darlington, SC, on May 10.
The M&M’s racing team also plans to feature Indiana Jones-style activities for people attending the Darlington race.
TV spots, which air through May 25, show Red and Yellow M&M’s characters participating in an quest to save the M&M’s Mint Crisp candies. Red and Yellow, swinging from ropes, plunge down a deep cavern into a precarious situation, and find themselves face to face with deadly snakes slithering around the treasured mint crisps.
Print ads encourage people to find their fun side and embrace their “Inner M” are part of the company’s ongoing Inner M equity campaign. Movie-themed ads, which launched last week in In Touch, Entertainment Weekly, People Weekly, Rolling Stone, Star, TV Guide, USA Weekend, US Weekly, Southern Living and Reader’s Digest, show Indiana Jones’s adventurous side as he fends off feisty cobras, mimicking the famous “Well of the Souls” snake pit scene.
In the latest film, archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.
BBDO handled the advertising, G2 Interactive was in charge of the online components, Elevation oversaw the NASCAR component and Weber Shandwick works on PR, including the launch of M&M’s Mint Crisp Chocolate candies and Snickers Adventure bar.
