Anchor Bay, Tasty Brand Cross-promo Offers Treats for ‘Trainees’

Young fans of the “Chuggington” TV series will have a greater incentive to eat healthy with the October launch of a cross-promotion from Anchor Bay Entertainment and organic snack food company Tasty Brand Inc. in tandem with the release of “The Chugger Championship” on DVD. Through February 2012, families across the United States will be able to receive a $3 rebate check by mail when they buy a participating Tasty Brand product and a participating “Chuggington” DVD, including “The Chugger Championship,” which comes out on Oct. 11.

“The pro-social messages showcased in each ‘Chuggington’ DVD encourage young children to strive to always do their best and are the perfect complement to the ‘good-for-you’ philosophy and product offerings of Tasty Brand,” explained Julie Cartwright, SVP of brand marketing for Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Anchor Bay Entertainment, the home entertainment division of Starz Media LLC. Cartwright added that the new partnership would “help young chuggers and their families make positive and healthy choices every day.”

“The new program will support parents in providing nutritious and wholesome foods and snacks for their children, while helping them to instill the life lessons that are so important to preschoolers’ development,” noted Liane Weintraub, co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Tasty Brand.

As part of the campaign, about 1 million Tasty Brand snack packages will feature artwork from “The Chugger Championship” DVD and include a “Chuggington” activity sheet within each participating Tasty Brand product. Further, every “The Chugger Championship” DVD pack will include a Tasty Brand promotional insert throughout the program.

The promotion encompasses Tasty Brand’s Organic Fruit Snacks (Mixed Fruit, Superfruit and Sport) in individual grab-and-go sizes as well as in 5-pouch boxes, and Organic Cereal Bars in Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Pie varieties.

A CGI-animated TV series that encourages early social readiness skills, “Chuggington” depicts the adventures of three young trainees, Wilson, Brewster and Koko, as they learn to “ride the rails” of life and become productive chuggers. The series, which debuted in the United Kingdom in 2008, made its U.S. debut in 2010 and is now available in several key international markets, airs daily on Disney Junior, Disney Channel’s programming block designed for kids ages 2 to 7 and their families.