'Brother Bear' Gets a Lion's Share of Help

Walt Disney Pictures' Brother Bear hit retail March 30 backed by a variety of incentive offers from retailers.Most incentives involved packaged goods makers serving as marketing partners for the animated film's home-video release. Among the offers found in weekly circulars:Nearly all Kroger divisions featured extensive offers for a variety of free product from several vendors. The most lavish provided free packages of Kraft Foods' Kool-Aid Bursts and Barnum's Animal Crackers and American Pop Corn Co.'s Jolly Time popcorn, along with a whole rotisserie chicken from the deli -- and then threw in $4 off the combined purchase of the video and Kodak film or cameras, and an additional $3 off the joint purchase of the video and two Energizer battery multipacks.At other supermarket chains, Giant Eagle offered $3 off with the purchase of store-brand single-use cameras, Ahold's Giant Food and Tops two free two-liter bottles of Pepsi and one box of Jolly Time, and Ukrop's a package of Jolly Time. Albertsons' flagship and Acme chains offered one free Coke product and one Jolly Time box, while Jewel-Osco dangled three Coke products (up to $3).In the drugstore channel, Walgreens offered a free 10-pack of Kraft's Capri Sun juice, CVS two two-liter bottles of Coke, and Osco Drug three two-liter bottles of Coke beverages. Rite Aid promised $3 worth of Masterfoods miniature candy bags. Longs made that offer more specific by dangling $3 in Kellogg's fruit snacks; Brooks made it more general with $3 off "your Easter candy purchase." Most chains in the mass-market channel played it straight. Meijer won the price war, offering the DVD for $16.99, compared with $19.95 at Wal-Mart and $17.99 at Target. (Editor's note: Although Wal-Mart's circular featured the aforementioned price, at least some stores were selling the DVD for several dollars less.) Kmart advertised the title at $19.99, but sweetened the deal with an offer for $5 off the combined purchase of Brother Bear and recent Disney release Lion King 1.5.Elsewhere, Best Buy dangled $5 off the combined purchase of the new release and "any title in our Disney DVD section" (but didn't list the price), while rival Circuit City offered $3 off the $17.99 list price when purchased in combination with the film's soundtrack. Toys "R" Us also took a nebulous tack, promising that shoppers would "Save $4" but not listing the price.

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