Sep 4, 2007 6:04 AM, PROMO Xtra

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is running several promotions surround its new Blu-ray Disc titles, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” which is being released on Oct. 2, and “Live Free or Die Hard” Nov. 20.

Both titles come out the same day as the DVD.

In order to generate a buzz for its release, Fox has partnered with everyone from the U.S. Postal Service to Dodge to put the second “Fantastic Four” movie in front of consumers:

• AAA, in its first-ever integrated national campaign, according to Fox, will have ads in 23 of its club magazines, a 4 Ways to Win! national sweepstakes, direct mail inserts, e-mail and Web site ads, P-O-P materials in more than 1,000 AAA locations, and themed vacation offers.

• Continental Tires will offer a Power of Four Sweepstakes with the grand prize being a “Fantastic Four” customized Dodge Charger.

• Dodge, the official “FantastiCar” sponsor of the film, will feature DVD signage and will play movie clips at four major car shows through the rest of the year.

• Kellogg’s will feature the movie on the side panel of many of its products, with a consumer offer to save $3 off the DVD, and a full-page ad in People Magazine.

• Levitz furniture will promote the release with a “Fantastic Deals on 4-piece room collections” campaign, through TV, print and online ads, and with on-site movie screenings and a national sweepstakes.

• Panasonic will feature the title as its lead release for all fourth quarter tie-ins to its PTX-7 theater systems. The DVD will also show up on Panasonic’s nationwide “Living in High Definition” tour.

• USPS will promote the DVD in the lobbies of 1,475 post offices and online, as part of its 2007 Marvel Super Heroes stamp collection launch.

Fox’s Blu-ray marketing blitz is the latest salvo in the next-generation DVD format war. Consumers generally have shown no need to upgrade their hardware and software choices in the same way that DVD quickly began to replace VHS a decade ago.

Disney is currently engaged in a mall tour promoting Blu-ray. Meanwhile, Viacom’s Paramount and Dreamworks last month reportedly received $150 million in marketing incentives to join the rival HD DVD camp on an exclusive basis. Paramount previously had issued titles in both formats.

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