This past Saturday morning after our water aerobics class (Yes, Nancy has got me exercising. With the hope that I'll eventually slim down from my current Jabba-the-Hutt-like physique to something a little … Well, less bulky), we dropped by our local WalMart to do some grocery shopping. And as I wandered past their in-store Subway sandwich shop …
Photo by Nancy Stadler
… what to my wondering eye should appear but Frankenweenie toys!
Photo by Jim Hill
"Now wait a minute," I hear you say."Didn't the Walt Disney Company recently announce some new sort of initiative where they were going to be extremely careful about which foods they associated their characters with. So — if that's really the case — what are Tim Burton's 'Frankenweenie' characters doing on the side of a Happy Meal Bag?" First of all, it's not a Happy Meal bag. It's a Subway Fresh Fit for Kids Meal Bag. Which — to Disney executives' way of thinking — makes all of the difference in the world here.
Photo by Jim Hill
You see, each of the four meals that Subway offers as part of its Fresh Fit for Kids program are nutritionally sound. Featuring a Fit Mini Sub which is loaded with fresh veggies and then accompanied by a healthy side dish like apple slices. And given that kids are only allowed to wash this meal down with water, 1% low fat milk or 100% juice … Well, Subway Fresh Fit for Kids Meal program is a perfect fit for Disney's new healthy foods initiative. Which is why the Studio had no qualms whatsoever when it came to using this fast food restaurant's kids meal as a way to promote "Brave" and "Frankenweenie."
Anyway … Each of these "Frankenweenie" Fresh Fit for Kids Meals is served in a double-sized bag …
Photo by Nancy Stadler
… featuring one of four images from the film on the front and a stylized silhouette of Sparky on the back.
Photo by Jim Hill
And to give this Tim Burton-inspired plaything a creepy-but-cool touch, each Subway Fresh Fit for Kids Meal includes a glow stick that's been dubbed a lightning cell.
Photo by Jim Hill
Now given that this particular Subway Fresh Fit for Kids Meal bag has a big "Don't Be Afraid to Reuse Me!" message on the back … I would imagine that — when Halloween rolls around — a lot of parents are going to reach for these "Frankeneweenie" bags and then insist that their children use them when they go out Trick-or-Treating. And then — just for that extra measure of safety — I imagine that these same parents will fire up that glow stick / lightning cell and drop it in that "Frankenweenie" bag. So that their kids will be that much easier to see when they're out Trick-or-Treating.
Well, the only problem with doing that is … If you're holding your "Frankenweenie" Subway Fresh Fit for Kids Meal bag front to bag and that glow stick / lightning now slides into the lower right hand corner …
Photo by Jim Hill
… it now looks as though someone's been feeding poor Sparky Plutonium-flavored Alpo.
Now please keep in mind that your local Subway may not yet be taking part in this "Frankenweenie" -related promotion. By that I mean, if you got to the official Subway Kids website, they're still promoting their "Brave" – themed Fresh Fit for Kids meals.
"Brave" elements copyright Disney / Pixar. All rights reserved
So I'm wondering now if our local Subway sandwich shop may have somehow gotten ahead of the curve here and has begun promoting "Frankenweenie" before all of the other franchisees in this fast food chain did.
Whatever the case, if you're a Tim Burton fan, you're going to want to swing into your local Subway sandwich shop and pick up a couple of these super-cool collector bags …
Photo by Jim Hill
… if only so you can then recreate my somewhat crude / less-than-clever "What the heck have they did been feeding this poor dog?" gag.