Ice cream was a popular food item used to help promote each of the movies in the original trilogy throughout Europe. Here we have one of the rarest of those promotions. Motta Ice Cream in France released a set of 30 stickers as a "free with purchase" campaign alongside their "La Guerre des Etoiles" brand ice cream in 1981. With only one sticker per purchase, French kids would have to almost eat their weight in ice cream to complete the set.
This photo shows several of the stickers and an envelope that would be sent to retailers. The envelope contained 24 stickers (not even enough for a full set) and it instructed the shop owner to distribute the premiums to everyone buying the Star Wars brand ice cream bar. So there was no guarantee you would even get a sticker you needed. Perhaps a sympathetic sales clerk would take pity on the young budding collectors and allow them to request specific stickers.
The stickers are numbered on the back with a title/description in French and measure 1.75 inches by 2.5 inches. The images used are surprisingly not very colorful or dynamic. There are several stickers devoted to minor characters (Lobot lovers rejoice!) and several almost identical Hoth battle scenes. Despite the less than impressive images used, these stickers are in high demand by food and card collectors but are next to impossible to find.
The highlight of this promotion was a poster that was advertised on the back of every sticker. It was a a mail-in premium available by just sending in your name and address and 6.50 French Francs worth of stamps. The poster measures 21x30 inches and features the Empire Strikes Back Style "B" poster artwork as well as places to stick all your stickers.
The next year, in 1982, Motta again used Star Wars to promote their ice cream products by teaming up with French toy company Meccano and had a sweepstakes contest filled with various Star Wars toys.
Make sure to check out Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles, available exclusively online.
