The Pink Panther does the funky chicken

The king of cool heads across the pond to star in a Kentucky Fried Chicken kids meal promo that runs from May 21 to July 9 in 500 KFC restaurants across the U.K. Roughly 800,000 interactive plastic premiums will be up for grabs, including a Pink Panther Light Up Elvis, Karate figure, Skateboarder and Treasure Keeper toy. In-store POS and trayliners will support.

Digimon gets a Kiwi exposure boost

Kids in New Zealand will find Digimon spinning top premiums in McDonald’s Happy Meals from June 28 to July 25. About 150 participating McD’s will offer 800,000 Digitops in eight different colors and characters, including Greymon, Patamon and Agumon. The promo will be aided by a 30-second TV spot airing June 28 to July 21, in-store POP, and special Happy Meal box artwork.

Holiday happenings

Pillsbury has teamed up with Golden Books Family Entertainment for a cross-promotion between its Holiday Shape Refrigerated Cookie line and GBFE’s holiday classics home video collection that includes Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman. A new Frosty The Snowman-shaped cookie will join Rudolph-themed cookies from last holiday season, and the DVD holiday titles will be featured on Frosty-shaped cookie packages. The promo will run in grocery stores across the U.S. from Thanksgiving through January 1, 2002.

To market the initiative, a 30-second national TV spot will break in early December and air throughout holiday programming, including during CBS’s broadcasts of Frosty and Rudolph. Also in December, a national FSI drop to over 20 million households in major market newspapers will feature cookie line info and a coupon offer. In-store POS will support this initiative, including a free-standing cooler display case depicting recognizable scenes from the TV specials.