Dodge and General Mills: In celebration of Dodge’s upcoming return to NASCAR Winston Cup racing after a 15-year absence, General Mills is teaming up with Dodge for the “Dodge Countdown to Daytona” promotion. This promotion will give NASCAR fans the first opportunity to collect 1/64-scale die-cast replicas of eight new Dodge Intrepid R/T racecars. The General Mills “Dodge Countdown to Daytona” promotion will run from mid-January through February 2001, and will involve four food categories and more that 40 million packages, making it one of the largest package promotions ever assembled at General Mills. As part of the promotion, over 14 million specially marked packages of Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Wheaties and Golden Grahams will feature one of five 1/64-scale Dodge Intrepid R/T die-cast racecars inside. The five replica cars include Bill Elliott’s #9, Casey Atwood’s #19, John Andretti’s No. #43, Kyle Petty’s #45 and Stacey Compton’s #92 Dodge Intrepid R/T and are featured in a “visible value” window on the package that will allow customers to see which car is inside. Bill Elliott, who will pilot the #9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T in 2001, is featured on the Wheaties package. Consumers will receive one of three “gold edition” 1/64-scale die-cast Petty Enterprises cars when three UPCs from Hamburger Helper packages are redeemed. The Petty Enterprises “gold edition” die-cast cars include John Andretti’s #43, Buckshot Jones’ #44 and Kyle Petty’s #45 Dodge Intrepid R/T. Other General Mills brands involved in the “Dodge Countdown to Daytona” promotion include Betty Crocker desserts, Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn, Chex cereals and Bugles. When three participating Betty Crocker dessert products are purchased, consumers will receive a free 1/64-scale die-cast of Ward Burton’s #22 Dodge Intrepid R/T. Consumers will receive a free die-cast replica of Dave Blaney’s #93 when two three-count packages of Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn are purchased and a free die-cast of Buckshot Jones’ #44 Dodge Intrepid R/T when two participating Bugles packages are purchased. Specially marked packages of Chex cereals will feature collectable trading cards of the Dodge Intrepid R/T drivers(Business Wire)(1-15-2001)
