KFC offers Masked Rider Kids Meal promo

Saban Entertainment and Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) have entered into their second Kids Meal tie-in with Saban’s live-action syndicated series Masked Rider. With the purchase of a KFC Kids Meal, customers receive a Masked Rider carton with brain teasers and one of six different premiums including a fully articulated action figure and a glow-in-the-dark villain with a hidden robot inside. The kids-targeted promotion will run from January through March 1997 at KFC restaurants in the U.S. For more about this promotion and others, see the Sales Promotion Report on page 23.

An outer space promo for Captain Simian

Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys is looking to grab kids’ attention in a big way this month. In conjunction with airing six days a week in syndication across the U.S. for the month of November, the program is the center of a four-week promotion. Running November 3 to 29, the effort will include a new TV spot each week asking kids a question about the show. Respondents mail their answers to their local station to be eligible for a national grand prize and 27 local prizes. The grand-prize winner will have a planet named after him or her in an upcoming episode of the show. Of the 27 local winners per station, one will receive the full set of six Space Monkeys action figures and the Primate Avenger Mother Ship from Mattel, five will get the full set of action figures and another 21 will win three action figures. Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys, co-produced by Monkeyshine Productions and Hallmark Entertainment, is syndicated in the U.S. by Bohbot Entertainment and Media.

Jonny Quest launches safety promo

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is taking part in promoting safety. The program, which airs weekday afternoons on TBS Superstation, is tied in to the Quest for Safety promotion by the Safe America Foundation, TBS Superstation and Holiday Inn. From October 9 to November 4, children ages eight to 14 are invited to submit essays about how they practise safety or safety issues that they consider important. Chosen by a panel of public safety and community leaders, the ‘Safest Kid in America’ will win a ride on the Quest for Safety float with characters from The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest in the January 1 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. The winner’s essay will also appear on the TBS Superstation kids programming Web site (www.turner.com/disaster). Second-prize winners will receive bike helmets, T-shirts and Jonny Quest label pins.

Magic Schoolbus live show tours U.S.

The Magic Schoolbus takes to the road with an original musical production called Arnold’s Favorite Field Trip. In the show, produced by The Brad Simon Organization and Strawberry Productions through their joint venture Bus Adventures Live, Arnold accidently activates a shrinkerscope and reduces his class to the size of popsicles. The show tours until next March with 40 presentations in 35 cities. Another Bus Adventures Live production, The Travelling Sound Show, debuted last May and continues touring through 1997.