MIAMI - (Business Wire) Starting Nov. 16, Burger King Corp. (NYSE:BKC) will help bring the themes of adventure and exploration to kids through a series of Planet 51 premiums available with BK Positive StepsSM Kids Meal options, such as a two-pack of BK BURGER SHOTS®, BK® Fresh Apple Fries and HERSHEY’S® fat free milk. The premiums, available through a joint promotion with Columbia Pictures, will be available at BURGER KING® restaurants beginning Nov. 16; the film will be released Nov. 20. Capturing the characters and gadgets from the movie, one of six toys will accompany each BK® Kids Meal while supplies last. Toys such as the film’s “Rover” character and “Planet 51 Animator,” which features lenticular scenes from the film, all invite interactive play and bring the film to life.
“We know what kids are going to love and in developing our promotions, Burger King Corp. always strives to identify and partner with properties that will resonate with them,” said Cindy Syracuse, senior director, cultural marketing, Burger King Corp. “Programs like ‘Planet 51’ allow us to bring the adventure and comedy of one of this fall’s hottest films beyond the big screen and into restaurants.”
The promotion will be supported by in-restaurant merchandising, national TV advertising and a “Planet 51” game on Burger King Corp.’s kid Web site, www.ClubBK.com. The television advertisements feature the animated characters from the film squaring off in a staring contest with the “Planet 51 Humaniac” toy. Starting Nov. 16, kids who visit www.ClubBK.com can play “Space Match,” a game that incorporates the characters from the movie and tests players’ memory.
Planet 51 is a galactic sized animated alien adventure comedy revolving around American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker, who lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world reminiscent of a cheerfully innocent 1950s America, and whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders...like Chuck! With the help of his robot companion "Rover" and his new friend Lem, Chuck must navigate his way through the dazzling, but bewildering, landscape of Planet 51 in order to escape becoming a permanent part of the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum.
About SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 130 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at www.sonypictures.com.
About HANDMADE FILMS INTERNATIONAL
HandMade is a UK public company quoted on the English Stock Exchange with offices in London and Los Angeles. HandMade’s group activities include film production, sales and financing, and the license and exploitation of existing HandMade assets which includes ownership of a library of over 100 films. HandMade Films International is the sales & marketing arm of the Group and is a wholly owned subsidiary.
Current films on the HandMade slate include animated CG feature Planet 51, which features the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel and Seann William Scott. The film is released across the US on Thanksgiving weekend in November on 3,500 screens and will roll out from day & date across the rest of the world. Cracks starring Eva Green, Juno Temple and Imogen Poots. Executive Producer Ridley Scott’s daughter Jordan directs the film. Other titles include 50 Dead Men Walking starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess, and 2010’s remake productions of The Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa.
HandMade also owns and exploits the rights to Eloise, one of the best known and much-loved fictional characters in the United States. A live action feature film to be directed by Charles Shyer and featuring the mischievous character, Eloise In Paris, will shoot in Early 2010 starring Uma Thurman.
About ILION ANIMATION STUDIOS
Ilion Animation Studios was founded in 2002 to create state-of-the-art computer animated movies for worldwide theatrical release using its own purpose-built cutting-edge technology. Ilion Animation Studios and companies Zed and Pyro Studios, were founded and are run by Ignacio Perez Dolset (CEO of Ilion and Pyro) and Javier Perez Dolset (CEO of Zed). Zed develops and markets entertainment and community products and services for mobile and the Internet. The company is the leading mobile value-added services (MVAS) player in the world in terms of revenue and geographical footprint, operating in 53 countries across 5 continents. Pyro Studios, creator of the international best-seller video game saga Commandos is dedicated to latest generation video game development for the international market.
ABOUT BURGER KING CORPORATION
The BURGER KING® system operates approximately 12,000 restaurants in all 50 states and in 73 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. In 2008, Fortune magazine ranked Burger King Corp. among America's 1,000 largest corporations and Ad Week named it one of the top three industry-changing advertisers within the last three decades. Through its BK Positive StepsSM corporate responsibility program, the BURGER KING® system is committed to being a socially responsible brand in all areas of its business – food, people, the environment and corporate governance. To learn more about the BK Positive StepsSM corporate responsibility program and view the complete fiscal 2009 report, visit www.bk.com/corporateresponsibility. For more information on Burger King Corp., please visit the company's Web site at www.bk.com.
Burger King Corp.
Lauren Kuzniar, 305/378-7939
lkuzniar@whopper.com
or
Edelman
Lauren Ross, 312/233-1378
lauren.ross@edelman.com
