General Mills, Sony Team
al Mills here and Sony Computer Entertainment America, Foster City, Calif., have launched a three-month cross-promotional campaign running now through May 31.
In the "Gimme Five" program, General Mills is offering consumers a $5 discount coupon on five popular PlayStation games: "Crash Bandicoot: Warped"; "Spyro the Dragon"; "Tomba!"; "Grand Turisimo"; and "Rugrats: Search for Reptar." The cereal brands include Lucky Charms, Frosted Cheerios, Cookie Crisp, Cocoa Puffs, Reese's Puffs and Trix.
More than 20 million cereal boxes will have the coupons on the back, featuring the PlayStation character Crash Bandicoot riding a motorcycle. The coupons are valid until March 1, 2000, and can be redeemed at stores. The promotion will be supported with 10-second tags on General Mills TV ads announcing the offer, with a national freestanding insert and through information posted on General Mills' Web site for children, www.youruleschool.com, and PlayStation's Web site, www.playstation.com.
"General Mills recognizes Sony Computer Entertainment America's leadership position within the burgeoning interactive category, and we're extremely excited to be the first cereal company to partner with PlayStation," said Jim Huntley, senior planner of General Mills' Big G Promotions. "This is a great opportunity to combine the power of our respective entities."
"With approximately 41% of PlayStation's core demographic ages 17 and under, our partnership with General Mills offers yet another viable venue to reach the ever-growing and influential $400 billion kids market," said Andrew House, vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Through this exclusive promotion, the entire family can enjoy some of PlayStation's top selections of kid-friendly titles at the most reasonable price."
