Thanking Heaven

DALLAS-BASED 7-Eleven celebrates its 75th birthday next month with a bevy of in-store promotions and a two-day party in New York City.

“We founded the c-store channel,” says director of marketing Bob Merz. “It’s cause for celebration.”

The chain will join with up to 10 partners for a month-long flurry of anniversary-themed offers such as Miller Beer 10-packs and Verizon phonecards for $7.11; 75 cents off Pepsi-Cola’s

Gatorade; and Kraft Foods’ Planters peanuts packaged in nostalgic burlap bags. On July 11, stores will be adorned with red, white, and blue signage and all shoppers will receive free 7.11-ounce Slurpees. TV, print, and radio ads will support.

“This whole program has nice overtones,” says Harry Walsh, vp-team leader for the 7-Eleven account at Purchase, NY-based Pepsi, which also will serve a Mountain Dew-flavored “Blue Shock” Slurpee in custom cups. (The chain will offer dedicated TV spots.)

Meanwhile, the retailer is flying some 3,500 franchisees, executives, suppliers, and partners from around the world to New York City for two days of partying (with some business activity thrown in for good measure).

The celebration begins July 10 with a reception on Ellis Island boasting live entertainment and fireworks. The next day features a half-day of meetings at Madison Square Garden and an evening concert at Radio City Music Hall with national music acts and celebrity guests. “We tried to get them Britney, but she was unavailable,” admits Pepsi’s Walsh.

At press time, 7-Eleven was talking to several networks about airing the show in the fall.

JVC Company of America’s Mobile Entertainment division, Wayne, NJ, teamed with Urban Decay Cosmetics, Costa Mesa, CA, to co-promote a CD car receiver for women. Models sport easy-to-press buttons (for long fingernails) and the colors of Urban Decay eye shadows. Consumers who purchase a receiver by Sept. 30 receive an Urban Decay gift pack or a CD sampler. An in-store sweeps (on tearpads) dangles a two-year lease on a Volkswagen car (outfitted with JVC products). “We wanted to tie our product with a woman’s lifestyle,” says Aaron Novak, JVC’s national product specialist for mobile electronics. “Consumer electronics are geared toward guys and you don’t see products that are meant for girls.” Print and billboard ads support. International Strategic Marketing, Longmont, CO, handles promotion, E2amp, Los Angeles, advertising.

Minneapolis-based General Mills teams with Dr Pepper/7 Up, Plano, TX, this month for a cross-promotion in 10,000 convenience stores. Tearpads at register offer 75-cents off Wahoos!, Chex Mix, or Bugles with the purchase of 20-ounce bottles of Dr Pepper-owned beverages. The companies handle in house. The effort runs through December.

Allentown, PA-based slip cover manufacturer Sure Fit, is hosting its eighth-annual Ugly Couch Contest, this year offering a complete living room makeover as grand prize. Contestants mail in photos of their offensive sofas through mid-August; 10 finalists are posted at surefit.com for voting. The top three vote-getters appear on ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly, where the audience will choose the winner. Sure Fit handles in house.

Krispy Kreme last month expanded its branding efforts by rolling out a mobile donut store. The Winston-Salem, NC-based chain is using the tour to gain awareness in non-operating markets while providing support to its 220 stores. Staffed by 11 full-time employees, the Krispy Kreme Mobile Experience features a 53-foot-long tractor-trailer that expands into a fully functional shop. Winston-Salem-based Spevco designed the truck and handles the campaign.

Department store retailer Saks, Inc., Birmingham, AL, teams with Burbank, CA-based Warner Bros. Consumer Products this month to hype a pair of upcoming film releases, Scooby-Doo and The Powerpuff Girls. Half of the upscale chain’s 61 stores will create store-within-a-store sections for licensed product and host character appearances, games and contests, and gift-with-purchase offers. The retailer handles in-house.

Unilever, New York City, is heralding the debut of Degree Gel antiperspirant with a nine-month mobile tour and national sweeps visiting colleges. The sweeps dangles trips to the town of Hell in the Cayman Islands for a “Festival of Hell” in December; a partnership with Maxim magazine will supply models and a top band for the party. Through Sept. 30, consumers enter at events or online at degreegel.com. 141 Communicator, Chicago, handles; New Berlin, WI-based GMR Marketing manages the tour. In an alliance with Arlington, VA, neighbor Space Adventures, US Airways is hosting a sweepstakes offering a grand-prize trip 62 miles into the earth’s atmosphere. The airline’s Dividend Miles frequent-flier members earn entries every time they book a business trip after first registering at usairways.com/dm/spaceadventures. First-place prize is a trip to the “edge of space” (80,000 feet) in a MiG-25 jet. US Air handles in-house, with fulfillment from Manhasset, NY-based Marden-Kane. The effort runs through Sept. 30. Space Adventures is currently taking reservations for sub-orbital flights aboard a private spacecraft in 2004 and 2005. A seat costs $100,000. Dividend Miles members will be able to use their miles for space flights.