Starting next month, Hasbro’s Tiger Electronics is giving away 10,000 special edition Furby animatronic plush toys in an instant-win cross-promotion with Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid brand. Each of 26 million 10-packs of Hi-C fruit drinks will feature a burst on the overwrap, a ‘Furbish’ mini dictionary and details on the instant-win contest. Furby toys, targeted at kids ages six to 12, contain electronics enabling the fuzzy creatures to respond to light levels, sounds and touch, as well as talking in both English and the made-up Furbish language. The Hi-C brand hopes to cash in on unfulfilled demand for the popular six-inch toy built up over Christmas with an exclusive deal lasting through the first quarter of 1999.

In a cross-promotional first, a deal has been struck to sell commemorative gift packs for DreamWorks’ animated feature The Prince of Egypt containing two tickets redeemable at any theater in the U.S. through the Wal-Mart chain. The pack retails for US$19.96 and includes The Prince of Egypt storybook, a limited-edition lithograph and a music CD. This is the first time advance tickets have been made available that are redeemable at any U.S. theater for any showing of a feature. The film opens nationwide on December 18.

Warner Home Video has embraced democracy with a promo for Scooby-Doo’s Greatest Mysteries compilation video, set to be released in the spring of 1999. Fans had the chance to vote on which episodes will be included in the compilation through an Internet voting site running late October to early November. Clips from 10 classic episodes were available to preview and vote on.

Toymax is attempting to differentiate its collectible three-inch and six-inch Spice Girl figures from those offered by Grand Toys and Galoob with a series of TV commercials starring the preteen winners of a Spice Girls look-alike contest. Girls ages five to 12 competed late October in New York for the honor of representing Baby, Scary, Posh and Sporty Spice in the new ads, which began airing across the U.S. in the last week of November. More than 5,000 girls swarmed to audition from as far away as Delaware and Pittsburgh.