Holiday Inn and Nickelodeon have joined forces for a two-year promotion tied to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which premieres this fall.
The partnership begins with the return of Holiday Inn’s Dinner’s on Us summer promotion. Holiday Inn will debut a new Bikini Bottom Bites kids’ menu available through 2005, featuring SpongeBob-inspired meals like Squidward Cereal, Plankton Pancakes and Mindy’s Mac & Cheese. Kids can also work on SpongeBob crossword puzzles and mazes on the Bikini Bottom Kids’ Corner activity sheet. Further promotional plans include support for the opening of the new SpongeBob movie on Nov. 19 and support for the release on the movie on DVD in 2005.
In addition to the kids’ menu, participating Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts in the U.S. and Caribbean will feature a Krabby Korner and Bikini Bottom Splash. The Krabby Korner is a themed activity area in the lobby featuring a SpongeBob play tent, activity table and chairs and Bop Bags with a TV/DVD player and Sony PlayStation2 unit. The SpongeBob Lending Library has SpongeBob cartoons, board games, a video game, playing cards and books that kids can check out for use in the Krabby Korner. The Bikini Bottom Splash pool area features SpongeBob tunes, inflatable rafts, kickboards and SpongeBob ice cream. Guests can also collect a series of four SpongeBob keycards throughout the promotional period.
Parents can log on to holiday-inn.com/freedinner.comand request the Free Dinner rate to receive a voucher worth up to $24 at the hotel restaurant for each night of their stay. More than 60,000 families took advantage of this promotion last year. Additionally, if parents pay with their American Express card, children will receive a SpongeBob plush toy or personal digital assistant toy at check-in. Holiday Inn will continue to refresh in-hotel manifestations of the Nickelodeon experience over the course of the two-year partnership, which runs through 2005. Stamford, CT-based BEN Marketing Group handles promotional initiatives; Boston, MA-based Digitas handles online creative; and Al Punto, based in Tustin, CA handles creative for the U.S. Latino market.
This partnership extends a relationship that began late last year, when Holiday Inn and Nickelodeon began the $20 million development of Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn in Orlando, which are slated to open late spring 2005. The suites will feature two- and three-bedroom Nick-themed suites with bunk beds and video games, Nick character breakfasts and wake-up calls, live entertainment and two water park pools with waterslides and flumes.
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