Mars, A&W Plot Munstrous Promos

Plus: Teletubbies Wreak Havoc in L.A.

Universal, resurrecting a 30-year-old property packed with retro-kitsch appeal, has inked Halloween-themed cross-promotional deals with M&M/Mars, A&W Root Beer and the Illinois State Lottery around The Munsters.

M&M/Mars plans a mock Publisher's Clearinghouse Giveaway, dubbed "Be Home for Herman," in which it will send Herman Munster to the winner's house on Halloween night with a $200,000 check. National print ads support, as does radio in the top 30 markets and extensive POP at grocery, drug, convenience stores and mass merchants. The promo centers on Snickers, but fans out across "Fun-size" Twix, Skittles, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers and the rest of its candy portfolio. Packages feature an 800 number to enter the contest.

Cadbury's A&W Root Beer will stage a "Munster of a Party" sweepstakes, dangling 200 trips to Los Angeles for a bash at the original Munsters house on the Universal Studios backlot. It will be flagged on 10 million multi-packs and 2-liter bottles of its flagship brand, plus Sunkist and Welch's Grape Soda. The soda also crosspromotes with M&M/Mars, offering mail-in rebates with purchase of both products. Massive POP is planned in 40,000 grocery stores.

The Illinois State Lottery, one of the country's most active, will bow eight Munsters-themed tickets, supported by a statewide TV campaign, radio and POP at 9,000 retailers.

Al "Grandpa" Lewis, who, oddly enough, recently declared his candidacy for governor of New York, will also get in on the act, doing voiceovers for partners' radio and TV spots.

The Munsters, whose show launched in 1964 and has aired on Nick at Nite, is part of Universal's classic monster collection, a focus of stepped-up promo activity for the studio.

"The property straddles the line because it's not too scary for young kids, but not too soft for adults," said Christina George, Universal's senior director of promotions.

Imax has added Encyclopedia Britannica to the promotional partner list for its fall release, T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous, a 3D, special-effects laden movie. Already on board: Showtime, Imaginarium stores and GTE phone cards (Brandweek, July 13).

Encyclopedia Britannica, in its second entertainment link, will use the movie to help launch its software, Britannica CD 99 multimedia, standard and reference editions. Consumers who buy one of the products will get a mail-in offer for a free CD-ROM, Britannica's Discovering Dinosaurs, which will contain behind-the-scenes footage from T-Rex.

Extensive POP supports at computer, office supply and other specialty and mass retailers. Imax will hype Discovering Dinosaurs at its 90 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The deal, which runs through Q4, was shepherded by Salerno & Associates, L.A.

Not eh-oh, but uh-oh. Hundreds of parents and kids who showed up at two Los Angeles-area PBS-affiliated KCET stores recently expecting to see life-sized Teletubbies, as per weeks of local promotions, nearly started a riot when the characters failed to show. Police in Glendale were called to restore order in the mall-based Store of Knowledge when more than 600 people started shouting "false advertising" and "scam." Advance promos had promised the Teletubbies would be at that store and one in Ventura County for a "play day." But the events were never cleared with Teletubbies' distributor, Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, whose execs have kept such a tight reign on the property that big-bucks would-be promo partners have been turned away.

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