Feb 12, 2008 6:03 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Amy Johannes

Play Along is rolling out a celebration-themed Cabbage Patch Kid doll to mark the 25th anniversary featuring a tie-in with Carvel.

The Cabbage Patch Kids brand is toasting its silver anniversary with a host of promotions being led by partners Burger King and Carvel.

4Kids Entertainment Inc., the licensing and marketing agent for Cabbage Patch Kids, is teaming up with property owner Original Appalachian Artworks Inc. and master toy licensee, Play Along, to launch a year-long campaign to celebrate the milestone with sweepstakes and kids premiums.

Burger King Corp. is out with a kids’ meal promotion. Sixteen collectible Cabbage Patch Kids Minis will be available with the purchase of any BK Kids Meal through March 9 at participating restaurants, or while supplies last. The company is supporting the promotion with TV spots, online content, in-restaurant signage and inclusion in the Burger King Adventures Newsletter.

Meanwhile, Celebration Foods’ Carvel is supporting the tie-in with a spring campaign, which includes TV spots and print ads in All You Magazine and Parenting Magazine, online promotion and an in-pack sweepstakes.

An FSI drops Feb. 24 to 26 million households promoting the Carvel sweepstakes and tie-in. And starting next week, some 9,000 grocery stores will carry an on-pack and in-pack sweepstakes on Carvel cakes. Under the “Treats and Traditions” sweeps, people can win a trip for four to visit BabyLand General Hospital, the home of the Cabbage Patch Kids, in Cleveland, GA. Other prizes include Cabbage Patch Kids and Carvel ice cream cakes.

In-store signage also supports the promotion, which runs through spring. Carvel franchise locations will also carry the sweepstakes.

“These partnerships are a way to bring moms and kids together to celebrate,” said Colleen Gilday, a consultant on the Cabbage Patch Kids brand who helped developed the promotions. “Burger King helps give great exposure to the Cabbage Patch Kids brand. Carvel is a good partner because it’s all about birthdays, celebration and ice cream.”

Other plans call for Carvel to launch a second on-pack and in-pack promotion and FSI this fall, Gilday said.

Play Along is also rolling out an exclusive Carvel ice cream-eating Cabbage Patch Kid. The Cabbage Patch Kids Fun to Feed Baby licks a Carvel ice cream cone, and when the baby’s face gets messy with sprinkles, kids can wipe their face with a magic washcloth. The new doll will retail for $22.99.

This fall, Play Along will reintroduce the original 1983 Cabbage Patch doll with a line of Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kids retailing for $29.99. The dolls will be replicated with the same fashions, hairstyles and facial expressions as the original in keepsake packaging. Each will have a “25^th Anniversary” Xavier Roberts signature and include a commemorative silver-stamped anniversary birth certificates and adoption papers.

Original Appalachian Artworks is also planning a birthday celebration for the public on Sept. 20 at BabyLand General Hospital.

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