1984 :: Kellogg's Cornflakes competition

In the yesteryears, Star Wars giveaways and competitions were slightly less common than current times, so when they turned up with everyday groceries, it was considered a real bonus.

In 1984, Kellogg's Cornflakes jumped on the Star Wars marketing opportunity with an excellent series of small square 'Return of the Jedi' character stickers. Less information has been published, however, about the competition associated with the stickers, and the temporary changes Kellogs made to the Cornflakes packaging to push the Star Wars association.

Front and back images of a 300g Cornflakes package are above (click on the thumbnails for the full images). Each package contained a single sticker, carefully heat-sealed in it own little plastic wrapper. The backing of the sticker revealed the prize won, or alternatively had a consolation message that could be sent in to go into the draw for unclaimed prizes. A significant consequence of the need to remove the sticker from its backing to claim a prize (or enter the second-chance draw) is that few stickers remain intact today! The correct answering of a topical question was an additional requirement for competition entry: "Answer this question Yes or No: Is Luke Skywalker Darth Vader's son?"

A substantial prize pool included the following (values in 1984 dollars, as they were listed on the packaging):

  - "A 5 day family of 4 holiday flying Air New Zealand to Los Angeles, stay at the Farm de Ville with free passes to Disneyland and other Hollywood attractions plus $200 spending money (value $10,000)
  - 15 Mother Ship Tents ($85 each)
  - 25 Patrol Fighters ($49.95 each)
  - Plus Star Wars Merchandise from Toltoys (New Zealand) Ltd.
  - 40 Laser Pistols ($18.00 each)
  - 40 Mini Ris ($14.00 each)
  - 100 Jigsaws ($4.99 each)
  - 200 action figures ($5.99 each)"

Now, I'm not sure what a "Mother Ship Tent" might have looked like, or even what the "Patrol Fighters" referred to actually were, but that was a fair whack of product given away! $5.99 for action figures...those were the days!

Related article: Kellogg's Cornflakes Stickers.
Related article: Kelloggs 'Revenge of the Sith' Promotions.
Related article: MacLeans Toothpaste Competition, 1983.
Related article: Miscellaneous Competitions, 1999-2001.

Matt G