Procter & Gamble and Kellogg Co. are touting Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat via unusual tie-ins.
This is P&G’s first-ever property tie-in for its service category cleaning products. A TV spot airing nationally shows the Cat‘s cleaning machine being fueled by P&G products.
“The movie is about making a mess and cleaning it up. That’s a big deal for P&G,” said Bill McBrayer, partner with Concept One, the Westport, CT-based agency that handles P&G’s campaign. “The line that links the two is ‘Good, clean fun.'”
P&G and Concept One worked with Rhythm & Hues, the Los Angeles-based production company that did special effects for the Universal Studios film, to animate P&G’s TV spot, using background images from the film and adding products in via computer-graphic imaging.
About a dozen retailers get account-specific overlays with Cat in the Hat displays for half a dozen brands. “Swiffer alone couldn’t get incremental merchandising, so we brought in five more brands to get products on the end aisle,” McBrayer said.
Separately, Kellogg Co. last week launched Cat in the Hat-branded cereal and Pop-Tarts. Kellogg licensed the characters for limited-edition cereal shaped and colored like the Cat‘s striped stovepipe hat. Pop-Tarts come with red-and-white-striped filling and hat-shaped sprinkles.
Network
