DreamWorks, Glendale, CA, this spring unleashes its largest promotional slate ever with a multi-partner package for Shrek, a CGI tale about the adventures of a crabby ogre featuring the voices of Mike Myers, John Lithgow, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy.
The film hits theaters May 18 backed by a smorgasbord of support that, all told, will give it presence in more than 20,000 retail locations. Tie-in campaigns begin in late April and run through early June.
QSR partner Burger King will run a five-week premium effort offering 10 different toys in Kids Meals and Big Kids Meals. P-O-P and a reported $20 million in media support. Equity Marketing, Los Angeles, handles. The Miami-based chain is turning into a regular DreamWorks pal, having last year tied into two of the studio’s animated efforts, The Road to El Dorado and Chicken Run.
First-time partner H.J. Heinz Co., meanwhile, will splash Shrek characters on three million bottles of EZ Squirt, the new kid-targeted red and green ketchup SKU. Packaging features a mail-in offer for Shrek stickers. FSIs, radio ads, and TV spots featuring the title character enjoying green ketchup support. Heinz handles the promo end in-house, with Chicago-based Leo Burnett handling advertising.
Elsewhere, Glendale, CA-based Baskin-Robbins will run an eight-week campaign featuring Shrek-themed ice cream flavors, sundaes, beverages, and cakes. P-O-P and other in-store elements support.
“We fell in love with the movie the first time we saw it,” says Baskin Robbins director of marketing Joe Adney. “We immediately saw the opportunity to come up with interesting and exciting products.” Norm Marshall & Associates, Sun Valley, CA, handles.
San Francisco-based Chevron’s gas stations will host a game dangling prizes and sell collectable cups with the purchase of fountain beverages. Sour Punch, a candy brand of American Licorice, Bend, OR, will sport Shrek-themed packaging at retail. The company will also distribute the items via movie theater concession stands. Lastly, Tempe, AZ-based MacFarlane Toys, the property’s master toy licensee, will roll out 40 action figures, beanie toys, plush figures, and playsets via TV and radio spots, Internet banner ads, P-O-P, and FSIs.
Golden Books Family Entertainment, New York City, and Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, this month celebrate the 30th anniversary of children’s classic Peter Cottontail with coupons for Pillsbury products on Golden Books displays in grocery and mass-merchandise stores and 100,000 copies of the Here Comes Peter Cottontail video. Meanwhile, Pillsbury serves up a Cottontail Holiday Shape cookie dough SKU at supermarkets and P-O-P featuring a giant plush bunny and Easter basket containing Golden books and plush toys. Ryan Partnership, Minneapolis, handles.
New York City-based Seventeen and JC Penney, Plano, TX, this month wrap the Rock Your Prom sweepstakes, which gives high-school girls a chance to win a prom-night package culminating in a live performance by new boy-band O-Town. The winner also gets a free limo, dress (from Penney), tux rental, dinner for two, and her prom photo published in the magazine. Runners-up win free prom dresses. Entry forms are available at Penney stores and on the magazine’s Web site. Teens who buy a prom dress at Penney stores get a faux tattoo premium. The O-Town concert will be aired via Webcast on seventeen.com in June. The campaigns were handled in-house.
Through May 15, Days Inn, Parsippany, NJ, is hosting a mail-in offer for videogames from Pawtucket, RI-based Hasbro. Guests who mail in their hotel receipts and $4.95 for shipping and handling get to choose from such classic game titles as Frogger and Pac-Man. Elsewhere, customers who charge their stays on American Express cards receive a 20-minute phonecard from AT&T through a partnership with New York City-based American Express. Days Inn handles in-house.
The seven-minute cigarette is getting an update, as Brown & Williamson Tobacco, Louisville, KY, launches filtered Pall Mall nationally. Advertising broke mid-February, along with “the largest direct-mail effort in B&W’s history,” says vp-marketing Paul Wessel. The company is targeting 6.5 million smokers with mailings containing ads and coupons. Ads pitch the product as longer-burning than the competition. The new cigarette has earned a 0.6-percent market share while testing in Alaska since August.
Hershey Foods’ two Kissmobiles rolled out for a 2001 tour that will visit 100 North American cities and cover about 100,000 miles. The campaign began on Valentine’s Day in New York City and again this year will incorporate a cause initiative by collecting donations for Children’s Miracle Network, Salt Lake City. Marketing Werks, Chicago, handles.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary in June, Orlando-based Hard Rock Café will give away The Magical Mystery Tour Bus, the actual vehicle used by the Beatles to tour England in their psychedelic ‘60s period. The sweepstakes began in February in conjunction with the launch of a five-month tour bringing the bus from Café to Café. Ten winners receive trips to London for an anniversary bash featuring a live act (to be announced), celebrity appearances, and the unveiling of never-before-seen Hard Rock memorabilia. RPMC, Calabasas, CA, handles.
Schick Shaving Products, Milford, CT, rolled out a global marketing campaign for Schick/Wilkinson Sword Xtreme III triple-blade razors, which first bowed in the U.S. last spring via $20 million in marketing support. Ads via J. Walter Thompson, New York City, star tennis pro Andre Agassi with the tagline, “Xtremely Andre.” A six-language Web site bows this spring with information on promotional events in each country, shaving tips, and product information. The global expansion follows a successful U.S. launch last June.
Plano, TX-based Dr Pepper/Seven Up’s Canada Dry Ginger Ale brand this month hosts a sweeps offering ski trips to Whistler Mountain in British Columbia. Pole signs, shelf talkers, and other P-O-P materials support, including neck hangers on one-liter bottles featuring a “buy three get one-liter free” offer and entry forms. Communicator Marketing Worldwide, Chicago, handles the campaign.
While Canada Dry hits the slopes, sister brand A&W offers outdoor lovers a chance to win a 16-foot fishing boat (with outboard motor and trailer package) through 12-packs of regular and diet root beer. Packaging will also feature 55-cent coupons for future purchases in an effort that runs April and May. P-O-P materials support. Harwood Marketing Group, Addison, TX, handles.
Scholastic Entertainment, New York City, is sponsoring an Internet sweepstakes targeting fans of popular Fox TV sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. Running through April, the effort is designed to hype Scholastic’s upcoming release of Malcolm titles. A Gotta Get On The Set sweeps will award a grand-prize trip to Los Angeles to visit the show. One hundred second-place winners receive prize packages containing all three Malcolm books, a portrait of star Frankie Muniz, and posters. Entry forms are being distributed through in-store displays, Scholastic Book Club mailings, the back covers of the books, and scholastic.com and fox.com.
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