After the successful collaboration with Ghostbusters Afterlife in 2021, Walkers is partnering with Sony to celebrate the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, through an on-pack promotion. The promotion is set to give shoppers a chance to win incredible prizes every hour between 6am and midnight.
Adult shoppers are looking to engage in light-hearted activities and have fun, which is influencing their snacking and movie choices. Walkers and Ghostbusters’ new collaboration represents the perfect opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this behaviour and increase footfall into their stores.
Until 5 May, shoppers will have the chance to win prizes such as cinema tickets, private VIP screenings of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Sony store vouchers, and a trip for two to New York for a Ghostbusters-themed adventure holiday and an exclusive movie location tour. The promotion will be available across the Walkers Snacks portfolio of brands: Monster Munch, Wotsits, Squares and Quavers, in a range of formats including PMPs, sharing, grab bags and multipacks*, making them ideal for all snacking occasions.
“Our previous on-pack promotion for Ghostbusters: Afterlife created a buzz for film fanatics and shoppers alike," said Josephine Taylor, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at PepsiCo. "We’re pleased to be in partnership with Sony again to build on this, in honour of its Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire launch. Together, we are bringing an element of fun to snacking occasions such as the Big Night In, whilst also offering shoppers a chance to win some exciting prizes.
“We’ll be amplifying awareness of the collaboration through shopper and digital support, ensuring the promotion is at the forefront of shoppers’ minds. With incredible prizes on offer across our brands in different formats, retailers can leverage this opportunity to maximise sales.”
To boost visual impact and awareness of the on-pack promotion, Walkers has invested in shopper activations with impulse retailers until 17th April. This includes branded bays, aisle takeovers, and digital sheets. To spread further awareness of the collaboration, disruptive short form videos of Ghostbusters characters coming to life within a supermarket will be available in three lengths - 20 second, 6 second- and 3-seconds versions. The videos will be amplified across digital and social media platforms.
Peter Staines, Director of Partnerships & Promotions, Sony Pictures Releasing UK said: “Following our ground-breaking partnership on Ghostbusters: Afterlife we're delighted to announce our latest collaboration with Walkers Snacks in support of the launch of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The movie is huge in every way, so it’s only fitting that we deliver a gigantic partnership with the nations most beloved snack brands. We couldn’t be more excited to see the impactful campaign materials roll out in the coming weeks, delighting snack lovers and fans of the Ghostbusters franchise across the country.”
Until 5 May 2024, shoppers can scan a QR code on pack or visit www.walkers.co.uk/ghostbusters to enter their details along with a unique code to find out if they have won one of the Instant Win Prizes. Every hour between 06:00 and 23:59, shoppers will have a chance to win cinema tickets to see the new Ghostbusters movie, private "VIP" screenings of the new Ghostbuster movie, £25 Sony Store vouchers/£25 Amazon vouchers and the Grand Prize – a trip to New York.
Notes to editor:
*The Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire promotion is available across the below brands and formats:
Promotion T&Cs UK & ROI 18+. Instant Win: 06:00 11/03/24 – 23:59 05/05/24. Enter between 06:00 and 23:59 each day. Scan QR code on pack or visit www.walkers.co.uk/ghostbusters and enter your full name, email address and unique code starting with WX from pack to find out instantly if you have won one of the Instant Win Prizes allocated via winning moments (2,403 in total). At least 2 Instant Win Prizes to be won each hour. Following the end of the Instant Win Period, all entrants will automatically be entered into a Grand Prize Draw to win the Grand Prize. Wrap Up Draw: 00:00 06/05/24 – 23:59 03/08/24. All entries received during the Wrap Up Draw will be entered into a prize draw. Prizes: Instant Win: 1,250 pairs of standard cinema tickets to see the new GHOSTBUSTERS movie (a booking fee of £0.90 per ticket will apply to online bookings in the UK); 3 x Private ‘VIP’ screenings of the new GHOSTBUSTERS movie; 1,150 x £25 Sony Store vouchers (UK winners)/£25 amazon.co.uk vouchers (ROI winners); Grand Prize: 1 x trip for 2 to New York. Wrap Up Draw Prize: 50 x £25 Sony Store vouchers (UK winners)/£25 amazon.co.uk eGift cards (ROI winners). Purchase necessary. Keep receipt. Internet access required. Max 1 entry per person per day. Max 1 Instant Win and 1 Wrap Up Draw prize per person. Single prize pool across all promotional products. See walkers.co.uk/ghostbusters for full T&Cs and details. Promoter: Walkers Snacks Ltd and PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company.
Fox’s Burton’s Companies has announced the introduction of a limited-edition Strawberry flavour to the iconic Fox’s Party Rings range.
With a creamy taste and smooth finish, these sweet treats are available from today (24) with an RRP of £0.90 per 125g pack.
The limited-edition flavour is designed to engage and excite existing customers as well as bring in new users, with a particular focus on attracting families.
Strawberry was named the number-one flavour across all family age groups, with 85 per cent purchase intent – and with Party Rings featuring in 50 per cent of children’s occasions – it makes this new limited-edition flavour a must-stock for retailers wanting to boost family basket spend.
Party Rings Strawberry joins the Party Rings range, which includes biscuits for a variety of shopper needs and missions. From the classic, full-size Party Rings, through mini formats to the Party Rings Minis Chocolate flavour which launched back in 2023 and have proved popular with shoppers looking for on-the go snacking options.
“We know Party Rings fans love a new flavour and that flavour variants do a great job of attracting families, so we’re confident that the addition of Strawberry to the range will drive excitement amongst our customers and opens up incremental biscuit and basket spend," said Robin Norton, Head of Category Insight at FBC.
“The launch of this limited-edition range will also see the introduction of our brand-new look and feel designed to give the brand a more fun, modern appearance that will stand-out on shelf. We have some exciting things to come for Party Rings this year and this is just the first step on our journey to make sure we’re bringing more fun to the everyday for everyone!”
The brand refresh will see packaging across all flavours and formats updated to reflect the new, playful “colour me in” design. The new revamp will be completed by May 2025.
March 2025 sees Popcorn Kitchen introduce Strawberry chocolate pigs in popcorn blankets as the latest addition to its home-popping portfolio. A fusion of fruit-themed pig candy, gourmet popping corn kernels and Belgian milk chocolate buttons, it allows any popcorn obsessive to make 14 generous portions.
Since its arrival in 2023 “Pop at Home” has become the business’s most successful new gifting launch with every topping from chocolate mini eggs and jellybeans, to peanut butter buttons, to novelty chocolate sprouts, festive chocolate coins and Rocky Road marshmallows. In 2024 sales grew by 95 per cent year-on-year.
“In an ever-changing global snacking landscape popcorn continues to shine, not least because of its unrivalled versatility, convenience and nostalgic associations,” said Co-Owner and Director Louise Monk.
“Whether we’re talking healthier, savoury, microwaveable or gourmet, popcorn retains the capacity to align with all manner of timeless flavours and turn heads. In particular, popcorn that aligns itself with high-end ingredients or cult childhood toppings are reaping the rewards for their ingenuity and daring-do.”
Pop-at-Home has shone in the UK’s growing gifting fixture which provides family friends, parents and grandparents to go the extra yard when visiting friends and family.
Mentos Sweets, the second largest brand in the hard chews category – now valued at £43.4m – is set to make its debut on the popular gaming platform Fortnite Creative, bringing a fresh and playful twist to the gaming world.
Over the next two weeks, Mentos Fizzookas – custom rocket launchers that
leverage the famously fizzy reaction for explosive fun – will be dropped into some of the most popular Fortnite Creative maps, “Piece Control 2v2”, “Piece Control 1v1”, “Troll Bed Wars”, and “Sky Wars” with a combined audience of over a million players per day, on average. This signifies the first time the Mentos and cola experiment has appeared in a gaming platform, and the first branded tactical item to be released in Fortnite Creative.
The entry into Fortnite Creative comes as the brand looks to build cultural relevance amongst younger, growing audiences. Research has shown that one in three Gen Z play games daily
and around 75 per cent play video games at least once a week, underlining the strategic importance of gaming as a platform for brand engagement.
To support this launch, a creative campaign will run globally, with over 20 markets
amplifying the Fizzooka launch with local influencers, media and across social
activations. On top of digital activations, Mentos also tasked influencers from all over the world to bring the campaign into the physical world, giving them 30 real-life, functioning Mentos Fizzookas replicas to create fun and engaging content.
“The Mentos x cola experiment first came to fame in 1999 and has been a mainstay on YouTube, TikTok and social media sites ever since,” said Sarah du Plessis, Mentos Brand Manager. “Now, with the invention of the Mentos Fizzooka, it seems there’s still plenty of fizz left in the famous experiment!
“We know gaming is a rich territory to connect with younger, Gen Z audiences and our latest foray into Fortnite Creative is a natural extension of our strategy to keep the brand fresh and relevant by engaging consumers in new and unexpected ways. We can’t wait to introduce a whole new audience to say Yes to Fresh.”
Vape firm Voopoo has unveiled the latest product in its ARGUS series, ARGUS G3.
The new pod device is powered by the revolutionary iCOSM CODE 2.0 technology, as Voopoo once again delivers on its promise of unmatched customer satisfaction through innovation, quality, and style.
ARGUS G3 debuts the revolutionary iCOSM 2.0 technology with the ARGUS Top Fill Cartridge V2, featuring a groundbreaking big coil that combines liquid-seal shield, mega-core, and golden cotton for an exceptional vaping experience.
A fully-wrapped copper sleeve creates a dense e-liquid film with 99% internal surface coverage, tripling that of conventional coils. Voopoo said this design will enhance leak-proof performance by 83%, ensuring 30 days of cleanliness.
With instant saturation and consistent flow, the mega-core layer of speed-control cotton further eliminates flavor inconsistency. It keeps the vape smooth, sweet, and full of flavor, every single time.
The high-tech, heat-resistant golden cotton, wrapped around the mesh, is made of aerospace materials. When regular cotton starts breaking down at just 150°C, it can handle up to a scorching 260°C. That's why it lasts longer — one cartridge can handle up to 100 mL of e-liquid without losing flavor or performance.
The robust 1500 mAh high-density battery is capable of delivering up to 5 days of uninterrupted vaping on a single charge. While, ARGUS G3 only weighs impressively 65g, comfortably fitting in your palm and providing freedom and ease of use. With a 0.96" TFT colour screen, the creative textures and gradient colours add a touch of sophistication.
The product is available in a UK-complaint 2mL variant.
KP Snacks is expanding its Hula Hoops range, with the introduction of a bold new Smoky Bacon flavour.
The new product will be available in the same reduced plastic outer sleeve that is being rolled out across existing Hula Hoops core six-pack multipacks, removing 24 tonnes of packaging annually.
Inspired by the unbeatable taste of grilled bacon, the launch balances a perfect smoky flavour with the brand’s famous crunchy texture. The new product expands one of the nation's favourite crisp brands, purchased by 28m UK households each year.
Launching in a multipack, the new Smoky Bacon variant capitalises on the strength of this format, with multipacks driving over a third of CSN sales. Hula Hoops BBQ Beef is the best-selling multipack within the “meaty & BBQ” flavour segment and the new addition complements the range with a strong, meaty flavour that appeals to consumers. The new product capitalises on the strength of the “bacon” flavour partition in CSN, worth £74m and growing +10 per cent YOY.
The Hula Hoops Smoky Bacon multipack is well-positioned to add fun and excitement to both at-home and packed lunches, with 62 per cent of buyers opting for Crisps, Snacks and Nuts as part of their meal.
“We’re excited to launch a brand new flavour for the Hula Hoops core range, building on the brand’s momentum after reaching the impressive £200 million RSV milestone last year,” said Sasha Finan, Brand Manager at Hula Hoops. “The release of the new Smoky Bacon variant is a key step in driving incremental shoppers to the brand by tempting consumers with new and irresistible flavours.”
The new product will join Hula Hoops’ core range, featuring well-loved flavours Original, Salt & Vinegar, BBQ Beef and Cheese & Onion. It will be available in 6 x 24g multipack format. The multipack segment is the second largest in the category, valued at £1.8 million.