Marketers whip up a storm of Indiana Jones tie-ins

— -- Fans and marketers alike seemed to have been whipped into a frenzy in anticipation of the May 22 opening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise comes to the big screen nearly two decades after the third, but boasting the ingredients of a summer blockbuster:

•A prime spot on the film release calendar on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend.

•Lots of summer movie action, from car chases to Indiana Jones wielding his trademark bullwhip.

•The creativity again of famous filmmakers George Lucas as executive producer and a writer, and Steven Spielberg as director.

•Harrison Ford back in the role of adventurer/archaeologist Indiana Jones. Spanning the age range, however, co-star Shia LaBeouf was 2 years old when the third Indy film opened in 1989.

Last month, an online poll of more than 5,000 users of movie ticket-selling site Fandango.com, voted Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as the summer's "most anticipated" movie. The fact that much of the plot has been kept under wraps has further piqued consumer interest.

Hoping that the big-budget release from Paramount Pictures would have fans jonesing for all things Jones, brands including M&M's, Dr Pepper, Expedia, Burger King and Kraft Lunchables have launched big-budget marketing tie-ins.

"We believe this is going to be the biggest movie of the summer," says Jaxie Alt, Dr Pepper brand marketing director. "We wanted to figure out a way to be a part of it."

Later this month, Dr Pepper, will run Web, print and TV ads that promote its link with the movie. Cans and bottles will have pictures of Indiana Jones. And buyers of 23 cans will get a lot more of a "pepper-upper" (as the Dr has billed itself) than they expected: an iPod Nano preloaded with the movie franchise's musical theme.

Marketers signing up for the 2008 movie say Indy still resonates with younger consumers, thanks to cable airings and DVDs.

"There's such a franchise and history with this movie, so even if you're in the younger demographic, you've heard of it," Alt says.