So when you see something like Pixar’s Cars happy meals at McDonalds or Spiderman 2 promos at TacoBell, which company is paying which?
Does McDonalds pay Disney big bucks so they can sell more happy meals using Cars imagaes and toys? Or does Disney pay McDonalds big bucks to advertise and promote their new movie?
I’m sure these are muti-million dollar transactions but which way are the millions flowing?
I wouldn’t be surprised that they consider it a wash, and no money changes hands. U2 didn’t take money for those iPod ads. They considered it free tv advertising for the new single/album, and Apple was happy to have the Biggest Rock Band in the World giving the iPod an extra bump in the cool column.
Good question. I would guess that, if anything, the movie distributors pay the restaurants.
When these promos are running, TV adverts for McDonalds or Burger King include clips from the movie, with the release date at the bottom of the screen. That’s free advertising for the movie. The Happy Meal and french fries come in containers plastered with the movie name and imagery- normally if you wanted to advertise on these you’d have to pay for the privilege. All the expenditure seems to be on the restaurant side, while the benefit is maybe 50-50. So why shouldn’t the movie distributors pay?