General's 'Fast & Furious' dealer POS promotions on the move
Dealers carrying General tires have an opportunity to throttle-up with some fast and furious promotional campaigns as the company revels in its role as the box office-busting flick’s official tire.
The fourth installment of the “Fast & Furious” series is shattering theater attendance records as 2009’s most popular release thus far. It began by grossing $30.5 million on the day it premiered, according to news accounts, and went on to have the best opening weekend in history for the month of April, amassing nearly $80 million. A second-place finish this past weekend (just below “Hannah Montana: The Movie”) drew an additional $28.8 million at the ticket booth, amounting to worldwide gross receipts exceeding $200 million – which is more than 2006’s “The Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift” took in during its entire domestic run.
Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster, the high-octane drama follows muscle cars, tuners and similarly exotic vehicles throughout Los Angeles and across the Mexican desert in addition to other locales.
“We are very excited to be part of this new film,” says Travis Roffler, marketing director at Continental Tire North America, General’s parent firm. “The ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise has a huge following, which will see first-hand, up-close and personal, just how hot our General tires are. What they’re going to see is a tire that can run with the best of them.”
The company has outfitted the main vehicles in the movie with its Exclaim UHP tires.
A variety of dealer point-of-sale materials are available to compliment this profound presence on the silver screen, coinciding with an advertising campaign in a variety of auto enthusiast publications.
Through May 25, customers who buy four General tires receive a free $50 gift card, plus they can enter the company’s “Fast & Furious” sweepstakes. The Grand Prize is a 2009 Subaru STI or $10,000 in cash; First Prize is a custom “Fast & Furious” Gibson guitar. (No purchase is necessary for entering the contest. People can sign up online at the company’s Internet site or text GENERAL to 834567.)
The Exclaim UHP fitment on the starring vehicles in the film is “truly a performance tire for all seasons,” says Roffler. Developed for sports cars, coupes and sedans, the tire “is designed to provide extraordinary handling, traction and control – even on rain-soaked roads.”
It features a silica compound to bring long mileage along with a double-V tread pattern and wide, solid shoulder lugs, he says. Water is quickly evacuated to protect against hydroplaning. The tire’s “improved force distribution,” which includes twin steel belts reinforced by spirally wound jointless nylon on top of polyester body plies, helps to enhance its handling and performance capabilities.
For more information, visit www.generaltire.com and www.fastandfuriousmovie.net.
