Cereal thriller: General Mills gives away Batman and Superman comic books
From now until the end of April, specially marked boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Trix and Golden Grahams will include one of four exclusive comic books created by DC writers and artists. The comics are smaller than a standard DC comic book.
The promotion is tied to the upcoming release of movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – in theaters from March 25 – and follows the launch of Batman and Superman cereals by General Mills in January.
“We are all about bringing fun to breakfast,” said Alysia Powell, senior marketing communications planner for cereal at General Mills. “It doesn’t get much more fun than finding a special, collectible surprise in your cereal box.”
Augmented reality game
The back of promotional cereal boxes will feature a Blippar-activated augmented reality/interactive game that give fans the chance to help Superman or Batman save a city.
The manufacturer has previously worked with DC to bring comic books to the breakfast table, launching a series of exclusively developed Justice League comic books in 2014.The promotion ran across brands including Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios.
Character licensing success
Licensing continues to be a popular trade driver in the cereals market. In addition to the Batman v Superman activity, General Mills has recently run Star Wars-related promotions such as a giveaway of exclusive glow-in-the-dark Star Wars decals in specially marked boxes of Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Multi-Grain Cheerios and Cookie Crisp.
Reporting its full-year results last month, rival Kellogg said its Avengers and Frozen breakfast cereals had “put fun back in the box” and that it had taken learnings from those launches to other regions in the world.
Kellogg has just launched a Dory-themed cereal tied in with Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory.
