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With Universal’s Jurassic World racking up the highest grossing global opening weekend ever, and coming in a close second to Marvel’s The Avengers for the biggest U.S. opening weekend, Berkshire Hathaway’s Dairy Queen found its movie tie-in has become a monster hit as well.
Jurassic World posted a $204.6 million opening weekend, making it the biggest opening weekend for any film ever to debut in the month of June.
The Jurassic World tie-in is a coup for a midsized quick-service restaurant chain such as Dairy Queen, which has 6,400 U.S. locations, as compared to McDonald’s 14,350 restaurants, McDonald’s movie tie-in is with the animated film, Minions, which opens the U.S, market on July 10.
The ad campaign is Dairy Queen’s first movie tie-in in 20 years, and was created by Minneapolis-based Clarity Coverdale Fury Advertising.
Dairy Queen is promoting its Jurassic Smash Blizzard Treat and Jurassic Snack Wrap Duo through a mix of television, digital advertising, and social media. The national and spot advertising already had 4,803 airings as of June 15, according i.spot.tv.
The campaign’s tagline is “An adventure in every bite.”
The ads feature a customer purchasing a Jurassic Smash Blizzard Treat while the Dairy Queen is under attack by raptors.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Universal Pictures for the new Jurassic World promotion,” said Tim Hawley, Vice President of Marketing Communications for American Dairy Queen Corporation. “Like the Dairy Queen system, the Jurassic Park franchise has a tremendous fan base and incredible staying power. This is a spectacular cross-promotional, retail marketing program for us to kick off the summer season and it is certainly one of the highlights of our 75th Fanniversary year.”
Movie tie-ins can be high risk if the movie fails to catch fire. While Dairy Queen is rejoicing with its connection to a box office smash, GM may be less than sanguine with its Chevy Volt tie-in to the Disney flop, Tomorrowland.
For more information, read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.
© 2015 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.