VeggieTales cooks up new look, campaign

Abe and the Amazing Promise due Feb. 7

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/3/2008

NOV. 3 | Big Idea will serve up its new VeggieTales: Abe and the Amazing Promise in February with a fresh marketing presentation involving a 1,000-screen in-restaurant campaign.

Scenes and trailers from the title, launching Feb. 7 at Christian retail and widely Feb. 10, will scroll across 1,000 screens inside such chains as Arby’s, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Denny’s, among others. The promotional screen service, which will span 2,000 screens by the end of 2009, was launched by Indoor Direct in April.

This latest installment of the popular VeggieTales franchise, which has sold more than 52 million DVDs, might not need this extra marketing boost. But Big Idea, the brand’s production company, would love to attract additional fans.

“We’ve been in the rollout plan with [the participating restaurants] for several months, and we are thinking about the exposure and entertainment value they will deliver,” said Greg Fritz, senior VP of marketing and licensing for Big Idea. “We’ll get eyeballs that are our target audience.”

Big Idea also has given the franchise a box art makeover. Three catalog titles, Rack, Shack and Benny; Josh and the Big Wall and Dave and the Giant Pickle, will be re-released with the new design at the same time that Abe rolls out to retail. Abe, priced at $14.99, and the catalog titles will be serviced to Christian outlets by Word Distribution and to general retail by Genius Products.

“We are debuting a new look and feel with these releases, and it’s completely fresh,” said Fritz. “There is brightened art and a new logo.”

Abe and the Amazing Promise animates the Bible story of Abraham and Sarah and their wait for a promised son. Bonus features include trivia, an interactive storybook, commentary and a behind-the-scenes featurette.