Hungy Man - King of Queens BRANDWEEK, March 24, 2003 THE BIZ by Becky Ebenkamp TV Dinner Fit for a King (of Queens)   In a match seemingly made in TV heaven, Sony Pictures Television’s blue-collar comedy The King of Queens and Pinnacle Food Corporation’s Hungry-Man are putting the “TV” in TV dinner with a cross-promotion to publicize the fall syndication launch of the CBS series.   June through September a “King-Sized Adventure” sweepstakes will be touted on 20 million Swanson’s Hungry-Man packages featuring bursts of cast members Kevin James (Doug), Leah Remini (Carrie) and Jerry Stiller (Arthur) and a come-on to vie for a Hollywood trip/set visit. Static clings on freezers and other grocery store collateral will promote tune-in for the 6-year old sitcom as it stretches to five-days-a-week syndication; so will a nationally distributed FSI. The perceived value of the blitz: $7.5 million-plus. Sony is finalizing separate deals with food and travel partners.   Meanwhile, Hungry-Man will make a cameo on the sitcom in an episode where Doug disses Carrie’s cooking, and treats himself to one of the dinners. “It followed what the characters would actually do,” said Alyse Kobin, president of Kobin Enterprises, Pinnacle’s entertainment marketing agency.    The partners saw an obvious link between the CBS show about a meaty, meat-and-potatoes Everyman and Hungry-Man, whose meals boast one pound or more of solid food. “we’re the only brand with the positioning of filling up a man’s appetite,” said Andy Reichgut, marketing director for Pinnacle. “Marketing to men is not rocket science- they know what they want, and we deliver.”   For Sony, the messaging also gives King a prime time boost in September and October, when viewers are bombarded with ads for new shows, old standbys, movies and other programming. BROADCASTING & CABLE, March 17, 2003 By: Steve McClellan   n TV Dinners on King of Queens Syndie Menu   Even if television does put 10 pounds on your appearance, amiable Kings of Queens star Kevin James is a big man, and there’s a good chance that, when you’re strolling the aisles of your favorite grocery this summer, you’ll see his mug smiling at you near the frozen-food case. He’ll be advertising Hungry Man frozen dinners…continued   It’s all part of a nationwide promotion and sweepstakes linking the Pinnacle Foods TV dinner to the launch of Sony Pictures Television’s King of Queens in off-network syndication next September.  The show is now cleared in 90% of the country, and Sony recently added WNYW(TV)  New York, WCIU(TV) Chicago and KRIV(TV) Houston to the station roster.   And let’s face it, could there be better match between a TV show and a consumer product?  As Kevin James’s character, parcel deliveryman Doug Hefferman, would say, “I know what I like, and I like a lot of it.”   James, his ever feisty TV wife, Leah Remini, and Leah’s TV dad, Jerry Stiller, will adorn the packages some 20 million Hungry-Man frozen dinners.  That’s the man-sized TV dinner that guarantees a whole pound of food in each package.  (Of course, if you’re really hungry, you’ll want to go for Hungry-Man XXL, the frozen dinner that packs a full pound and a half into a single serving.)   Either way, it’s going to be hard to miss those specially marked TV dinners this summer.  Kobin Enterprises, the marketing agency that worked on the project, estimates the promotion will generate 300 million impressions.  And the partners estimate the media value of the campaign at about $7.5 million.   Robert Oswaks, executive vice president, marketing, Sony, said he and his marketing team began searching last year for potential marketing partners for the show’s syndication launch.  With seven broadcast networks, hundreds of cable networks and a slew of new syndication programs all clamoring for attention at the start of the new season, “there’s a lot of noise out there, and we recognize that we need to rise above the noise.”   That’s hard to do, says Oswaks, with the usual print vehicles and on-air promotion time although those still remain part of the mix. “But we really wanted to get out there in an non-traditional way.”   Last fall, Oswaks and his team compiled list of potential marketing partners for the show.  It didn’t take long to figure out that Hungry-Man was the ideal fit.  “ Then it just became a matter of deciding how to make this work, because we realized we were perfect for each other.” (Oddly, though an advertiser on CBS, Hungry-Man does not advertise on the series.)   The companies created the “King-Sized Adventure Sweepstakes,” in which the grand-prize winner gets a trip to Hollywood to see an episode of the show produced, meet the cast and receive a coupon or two for Hungry-Man dinners.   “This brand has ability to reach our audience, and our show really resonates with that brand,” said Oswaks, Sony’s King of Queens Web site will promote the sweepstakes, and so will newspaper inserts.   It won’t come as a big surprise if Hungry-Man becomes an advertiser on the off-network show, although Oswaks stresses that the sweepstakes is a stand-alone promotion not linked to advertising.   “This is about tune-in and awareness,” he says.  “At this point, it’s premature to talk about advertising,” but it’s a safe bet Hungry-Man will be high on the list of prospects when the Sony ad-sales team begins its upfront activities.   Pinnacle executives couldn’t be reached for comment, but Nielsen Media Research’s Monitor-Plus ad-tracking service pegged ad spending for the Hungry-Man brand at $24.5 million in 2002.