EXCLUSIVE: If you walk in any Walmart or big chain grocery store, you’ll see that the sponsorship blitzkrieg for Universal’s June 22 release Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is at a deafening roar splashed on products galore.
Spanning items from Jeep Wranglers to bandages, Fallen Kingdom continues the brand’s tradition with a $185M global promo campaign in media value. That’s double the size of the previous partner program for the release of Jurassic World three years ago, and it outstrips recent summer promo campaigns like Disney’s Avengers: Infinity War ($150M+) and last year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming ($140M) and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 ($80M). Overall, nine different partners will be running TV spots, which will remain in play well past Fallen Kingdom‘s opening day. In total, consumers around the globe will be exposed to 1.3 billion Fallen Kingdom packages in the marketplace, and 1.5M displays. Like Star Wars, the original 1993 Jurassic Park was another textbook example when it came to raising an event pic’s profile with prominent promotional partners which then included Ford Explorer and Jolt Cola, and Fallen Kingdom continues that grand drum roll.
Fallen Kingdom vehicle partner JEEP started running their Colin Trevorrow-directed 60-second spot on Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 4. The commercial paid homage to the iconic scene from the 1993 film in which Jeff Goldblum’s Malcolm escapes danger while in the back of a JEEP Wrangler as he is being chased by a T-Rex. 25 years later, Goldblum is behind the wheel of the all new Wrangler with more technology and legendary off road capability, as he is pursued by the T-Rex once again. This time, the tables have turned as he chases down the dinosaur. According to social media monitor RelishMix, the spot was a huge success generating 39.7M views in its first 24 hours online following the Big Game. That’s more than any movie trailer watched on social media following its Super Bowl air, including Avengers: Infinity War (30.9M). More 30-second spots will air after Memorial Day. Mercedes Benz was the promo partner vehicle on Jurassic World with its G class luxury SUV and sponsored the Hollywood premiere with actors arriving in the GLE coup. That brand had a starring role that began back in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
While Universal has worked with JEEP before, Doritos is a first time partner. In the states, the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom logo will take over the Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch flavors with the pic’s iconic dinosaurs T-Rex and Blue (raptor) while overseas territories will feature a limited time only Raptor inspired “Blue” chip.
Dr. Pepper is also a first-ever national promotional partnership with Uni with four special edition can designs featuring Jurassic hero dinosaurs. A limited edition can was illustrated by the sequel’s director J.A. Bayona. M&Ms, Skittles, and Juicy Fruit gum under the Mars candy brand are first time promo partners with Uni as well and that campaign includes a cross-portfolio M&M’s/ Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom integrated TV spot along with film-themed candy packages. There were also full-page print ads in high profile publications with a nod to M&M’s place in the food chain.
Returning partners in addition to Jeep include Ferrero, Kellogg’s and Dairy Queen. Ferrero confectionery deploys its first-ever domestic license with Kinder Joy product with exposure on 15 million packages, each with collectible Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom dinosaur toy. The campaign extends also to top international markets. During Jurassic World three years ago, Dairy Queen had the “Jurassic Smash” blizzard and this time around it’s the “Jurassic Chomp” in collectible film-themed cups, highlighting key moments from the movie. The campaign is propped by TV media and extensive in-restaurant presence nationwide. Meanwhile, over 100M promotional boxes of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Pop Tarts, Keebler Cookies and Eggo waffles will receive Fallen Kingdom branding giving consumers the opportunity to win free movie tickets. There’s also retail activations including an exclusive holographic viewer insert at Walmart. Key international partners include McDonald’s (Latin America), CPW, Hershey’s and BP, among others.
While studios cry about the collapse of home entertainment revenue with the wane of BluRay and DVD, merchandising is a saving grace beast when it comes to racking up bucks for franchise pics. At one point more than a year after the original Jurassic Park, Universal/MCA reported that the pic’s consumer product revenue across toys, clothing, video games, etc. amounted to $1 billion. In this era, merchandising on an original movie IP can generate anywhere between $85M-$100M while something like Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi is estimated to have accrued around $450M in consumer products according to Deadline sources. Walk down a Walmart toy aisle at a time when Toys “R” Us has become extinct and you see that Fallen Kingdom merchandise greatly outshines Disney’s Solo: A Star Wars Story in its presence.
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