Dr. Pepper/Seven Up promo shows a comic flair

Drug Store News, June 26, 2000

PLANO, Texas -- While searching for a new way to promote carbonated soft drinks, the folks at Dr. Pepper/Seven Up looked to the past and may have seen the future. Seven Up has developed a new twist on the old practice of combining product and collectible, associating with Custom Comics to develop the RaceWarior comic series.

Set in the future, the comic revolves around the lives of Zax Hammer and Ty Rod Roberts, who are futuristic stock car racers in the year 2020. All the cars in the futuristic races are sponsored by Seven Up brands, including Sunkist, Welch's, Hawaiian Punch, Squirt, A&W, Country Time Lemonade and Diet Seven Up.

RaceWarrior relies on a distribution method first used to distribute comic books in 1933, with a promotional product tie-in. The RaceWarrior comic books are sold for 99 cents with the purchase of a Seven Up product, or $2.99 if purchased alone.

The initial 10-week promotion began in March at about 2,000 retail locations, including select CVS and Wal-Mart locations. According to Mike Martin, director of corporate communications for Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, "There have been some good results from the standpoint of soft drink sales. Sales of the comic book have been mixed. In some areas the comics have sold extremely well, and in other areas they have not sold that well."

According to Rob Colarossi, vice president of marketing for the Ales/Flavors division of Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, "As a direct result of the Seven Up tie-in with RaceWarrior, we have secured significantly more display activity in major retail distribution channels. Some of our retail accounts have experienced up to a 400 percent volume increase in the sales of our soft drink brands, which is more than double the typical display volume increase during a promotion."

However, the 400 percent increase is not universal across all channels, explained Martin. "While sales have been solid in all of the locations that have the comic books, retailers are not going to keep displays up forever. If we have a display up for 10 weeks, it is unlikely that we are going to have a display up for another 10 or 20 weeks," said Martin.

At press time, Dr. Pepper/Seven Up and Custom Comics were determining the next step in the RaceWarrior promotion.

"The big question is, 'Does this have legs?"' said Martin. "If it was an isolated 10-week promotion, I'd say it was successful." Ultimately, Custom Comics would like to extend RaceWarrior's relationship with Dr. Pepper/Seven Up to a full 38 issues. Stay tuned race fans ...