Beatwax Buzz For 'Bee Movie'

To celebrate the release of one of this year’s hottest animated films 'Bee Movie', Beatwax - the ideas agency that’s part of The Picture Production Company Group - staged a nationwide tour featuring a large simulator called The Queen Bee. This involved adapting an aeroplane flight simulator to provide a flight experience as seen through the eyes of Barry B Benson - the main character from the movie. Beatwax conceived and executed all elements of the tour for Paramount Pictures UK to promote the film ahead of its UK release on Friday 14 December.
The tour buzzed into action on Saturday 1 December in Glasgow, stopping at ten cities. The final stop was The Winter Wonderland in London’s Hyde Park where The Queen Bee will remain until 6 January 2008. Created by Jerry Seinfeld, Bee Movie takes a look at the world through the eyes of a bee - Barry B. Benson – who ventures out of the hive and discovers that humans have been stealing their honey.
“We are thrilled with the Bee Movie promotion,” said Sarah Gregory, Head of Promotions at Paramount Pictures UK.
“Beatwax delivered a showpiece touring experience; a pure spectacle that engaged family audiences throughout the regions. This helped to provide some much needed tactical edge at a very competitive time of year at UK box offices.
"The media exposure we gained from this promotion at regional level was exceptional.”
One of the main features of the Bee Movie tour was the Bee Hive - an eye-catching, child-friendly marquee that was a perfect fit for the film.
"It featured activities such as dressing up in a bee suit and running and jumping against a gigantic barfly velcro wall, gaming pods and face painting areas, as well as free film merchandise and three plasma screens showing film footage," she said.
Brand partners who helped with the tour, giveaways and other promotional activities included Paramount Pictures UK, Winter Wonderland, Piaggio, LG, McDonalds, Asda, XBOX 360, ActiVision and Flowers Direct.
“The Bee Movie tour was a fun and memorable family experience and it has had a fantastic response from the public as well as creating a huge impact in the regional media,” said Michael Brown, Managing Director of Beatwax.
“We’ve achieved what we set out to do – which was to put Bee Movie in the minds of families across the UK to help drive box office sales.”
The movie's opening weekend in the UK grossed £2,281,393.
(DS)