Marvel announced a major promotional campaign for the X-Men in which consumers who order a 'Big Kids' meal at Burger King between Dec. 31, 2001 and Jan. 28, 2002, will receive both a figure and a CD-Rom featuring a character from the X-Men Evolution television series. Of special interest to pop culture retailers is the fact that the CD-Rom will contain 'dot-comics.' These electronic comics will, it is hoped, get kids used to reading comic adventures and eventually create new comic readers. The CD-Rom also includes an animated clip from the X-Men Evolution TV series, simple games featuring the characters, and downloads of X-Men bookmarks, wallpaper, and screensavers. The promotion will benefit from extensive television advertising and full-color, eye-catching in-restaurant displays.
The promotion will feature eight different X-Men figures: Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Toad, Quicksilver, Mystique, and Magneto. Though we have not seen the figures, if they are anywhere nearly as nice as the Monsters Inc. figures that McDonald's gave away, they will undoubtedly be highly collectible themselves (and retailers may be able to resell them as collectibles if they can obtain a supply). The addition of the CD-Rom makes this one of the 'highest value premiums ever created' for a fast-food restaurant meal promotion. For pop culture retailers the promotion means more national exposure for the X-Men characters, and perhaps additional interest in reading comics, if the 'dot.comics' included on the disks do provide kids with enjoyable comic reading experiences (and are not overshadowed by the other electronic inclusions on the disks).
