What could be more fun than a game where "Everybody Wins"? How about a game where everybody wins millions of Empire Strikes Back prizes?
The answer, of course, is that nothing could be more fun! So Burger King and Coca-Cola in the United States decided to have just such a contest in 1981. The premise was simple: Go to Burger King, get a game card, scratch off the circles to see what prize you won, and redeem your card at the counter for your prize! As all of the display materials told you, there were literally millions of prizes to be won (over 21 million to be exact!).
So what were the prizes that would lure kids to eat at Burger King time and time again? The most prevalent were trading cards. There was a set of 36 trading cards created for this contest. Although not actually mentioned on the cards, longtime trading card manufacturer and Star Wars licensee Topps produced the cards. The unique feature of this set was that they were given out in strips of 3 perforated trading cards. Half of the cards showed images from A New Hope and half The Empire Strikes Back.
More valuable prizes included a Star Wars Flying Disc and (non-Star Wars) hand-held electronic games. Almost half a million of the flying discs were given away featuring unique artwork of Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO. The hand held electronic games, despite not being a Star Wars branded product, would have been a very cool prize back in the day, although children of the iPhone generation might roll their eyes at the stone-age simplicity of them now. If those prizes were not enough, there was a sweepstakes for a grand prize: an Atari 2600 video game console (Burger King had over two thousand to give away!). All you had to do was fill out the back of your game card and after receiving your prize, place the card in the entry box and hope your name would be drawn.
Looking at all of the display materials shown above, one common image stands out: the X-wing. This art was used on the translite, entry box, as a dimensional mobile, and even on every game card. Its stylized art looks like it was drawn by someone who had never actually seen an X-wing and might pass for an unlicensed item that was trying to evoke Star Wars without actually infringing on any copyrights. Despite the look, this image carried the Burger King "Everybody Wins Game" as it became one of the most popular and fondly remembered Star Wars related fast food promotions.
Now you are thinking that this all seems too good to be true. What's the catch? Well, the contest was only available to kids 12 and under.
(Also see our earlier coverage of Burger King Star Wars promotions here).
Make sure to check out Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles, available exclusively online.
