Special Promotions and Partnerships

This page shares specialized promotions that involve contests, social media marketing, and other forms of partnerships/advertising. So far, I have only uncovered one partnership that I would describe as this unusual, and it is that of Harry Potter with Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is one of the largest and most widespread of “global conglomerates,” and so a partnership with Harry Potter – one of the largest and most successful of global film franchises – and that convergence of parallel partners makes it unique.

This promotional collaboration spanned approximately three years and focused on the first two films. For Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Coca-Cola sponsored a contest to “win a library” for the school of the winner’s choice plus a free screening of the film. For Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Coca-Cola issued special promotional glass bottles advertising the then forthcoming film release.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ~ Coca-Cola Library and Screening Contest

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ Coca Cola Library and Screening Contest ~ #1 of 2

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ Coca Cola Library and Screening Contest ~ #2 of 2

These pieces are of historical interest as they represent several parts of a special partnership and promotion … this one from Coca-Cola and the Harry Potter films. The two page spreads that look like they are from a magazine are actually from the Coca-Cola company annual report from the year 2000, and they talk about advertising and partnership plans for the first two films in the series. The light vinyl banner pictures is from 2001. It advertises a contest sponsored by Coca-Cola to win a school library plus a private screening of the long-awaited first film in the Harry Potter series. The banner is 67″ wide and 33.5″ high, with grommets and ropes on the corners to hang it up for display.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ Promotions for the Film Release

Coca-Cola issued three licensed Harry Potter products or promos especially for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

1. Special Coca-Cola bottles/6-pack case. These limited edition 7.5″-tall glass bottles held 8 ounces of Coke, and advertised that Chamber of Secrets would be released in November. The bottles were available in a cardstock six-pack carrier that also featured the Harry Potter name wordmark and details on the film release date.

2. 3D-Scenes Card Set. In partnership with K-Mart and the Warner Bros./Harry Potter franchise, Coca-Cola also issued a set of four limited edition 3D/lenticular postcards. Each of these oversized postcards gives a one-paragraph description of the scene depicted:

• The Flying For Anglia Following the Hogwarts Express
• Harry Catching the Golden Snitch
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry
• Hermione Discovers the Polyjuice Potion Spell

3. Card and Code for “Secret Stills.” A special promotional card included a “Secret Peek Code” for people to go online to the “Live the Magic” website. There, they could log on with their unique code to see movie stills from Chamber of Secrets. This promotion was only active from October 14, 2002, through February 18, 2003.

As best I can remember, this particular kind of promotion had only been in use for a year or two. The first one I can remember was for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where Wal-Mart issued a business-card sized promo with a special barcode. You had to take the card into the store and have it scanned in order to view a trailer for the film. This was a fairly new kind of promotion – if not the very first – and as I recall, it caused a lot of excitement at the time.