Galactic Fast Food Memories!
Exploring the Burger King and Coca-Cola Star Wars Premiums of the 70s and 80s
Greetings, Mad Makers!
Today, we’re delving into the exciting history of Burger King and Coca-Cola promotions tied to the iconic Star Wars franchise in the 70s and 80s. As usual, I've put my twist on these premiums, which I discuss exclusively in a Patreon video. As a bonus, I'm making the video available for FREE to everyone who subscribed to this newsletter! If you'd like even more awesome content, consider joining us on Patreon!
As a newsletter subscriber, you always get cool project templates like this Burger King Star Wars card template, but there are even more exclusive videos, templates, art, etc., on Patreon.
It's hard to imagine a world where fast-food chains and soft drink companies weren’t heavily cross-promoting the latest blockbuster movie, but before 1977 when Burger King/Burger Chef and Coca-Cola joined forces to bring Star Wars fans an out-of-this-world promotional experience, the concept didn't exist.
The combined efforts of these pop culture icons marked a pivotal moment in marketing history, as they combined the fervor of Star Wars fandom with the widespread popularity of fast food and carbonated beverages for the first time.
Star Wars Posters: Burger King and Burger Chef restaurants became hubs of excitement as they offered four exclusive Star Wars posters featuring iconic characters and scenes from the films. These vibrant posters were painted in acrylic by artist Del Nichols over a single weekend.
Star Wars Drinking Glasses: One of the most coveted items from the Burger King and Coca-Cola Star Wars promotions was the series of collectible drinking glasses. Inspired by each of Del Nichols’ Posters, the iconic drinkware is a sought-after addition to any Star Wars collection.
After the massive success of Burger King and Coca-Cola’s Star Wars promotion, the duo doubled down with even more innovative memorabilia for the sequel.
Empire Strikes Back Posters: For Empire, the illustration duties fell to famed fantasy illustrator Boris Vallejo, who produced four more breathtaking collectible prints, including one with a bit of artistic license as it featured Darth Vader brandishing two red lightsabers.
Empire Strikes Back Drinking Glasses: Fans eagerly added to their collection, turning each trip to Burger King into a quest for the next piece to complete their set with four new glasses. The glasses feature fan-favorite characters like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Darth Vader and introduced fresh faces like Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian, and Yoda the Jedi Master.
Star Wars and Empire Trading Cards: No promotional campaign would be complete without the thrill of collecting trading cards. Burger King delighted Star Wars enthusiasts with sets of exclusive trading cards from the first two movies. Each set came as a sheet of three perforated cards that could be torn off and bundled with your favorite Topps Star Wars movie cards.
By the time Return of the Jedi premiered, Burger King and Coca-Cola had scaled back their promotional efforts quite a bit. No posters or trading cards in sight, but what about those glasses?
Return of the Jedi Drinking Glasses: If you were hoping to complete your Star Wars trilogy drinking glass set, you were in luck. One thing you could still collect at participating Burger King restaurants was the four remaining glasses featuring some great art. Unfortunately, since there were no posters, we don’t know the inspirations for the scenes depicted on the glasses, but they did conclude the saga’s story with new art featuring Jabba The Hut, The Emperor, and everyone’s favorite, the Ewoks.
Adding another layer of excitement to the Star Wars promotion, Burger King/Burger Chef and Coca-Cola introduced many other fun memorabilia like collectible stamps featuring Star Wars puzzle pieces, scratch-and-win sweepstakes cards, Kids’ Fun Meals and a slew of highly collectible display items and printed ads.
Needless to say, I have fond memories of all the wonderful Star Wars ephemera. I re-imagined them as if they were sold in wax packs. I even used the poster art as inspiration for the oversized wax packaging and the stickers. If you would like to get your hands on a pack or two, they are available in my online store. Limited quantities are available.
That's all for this week. Until next time, keep making awesome stuff!
