• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 2, 2011

Mattel is partnering with General Mills, placing custom-designed Hot Wheels pullback racers in certain cereal boxes. Each box also comes with a promotional code, enabling kids to log on to the toy marketer's Hot Wheels Racing Circuit site, racing against other players.

"The four cars are unique and exclusive to General Mills," Ed Horasz, Mattel's director of global strategic alliances, tells Marketing Daily. "The idea was to give the General Mills consumer not only a physical product they could collect, but also a more interactive experience, as well -- it's just a different way to connect with consumers, letting them live out their Hot Wheels fantasy."

The cars are available in Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, Lucky Charms, Cheerios and Reese's Puffs.

He says the companies will promote the offer, which will run through the end of March, on cereal packages, in half-page ads in free-standing inserts, in-store, and on its Hot Wheels and Hot Wheels Racing Circuit sites.

It has been five or six years since Mattel, based in El Segundo, Calif., has done a cereal offer, he says, "and we're thrilled to partner with a great brand like General Mills. We all grew up with Hot Wheels, so these are two strong traditional family brands, with a unique, interactive twist."

Meanwhile, Hot Wheels has more innovations cooking. The company unveiled a Hot Wheels Video Racer, a car with a camera in it at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. It goes on sale this spring, he says. That car enables kids to see what the view might be like from inside a race car, and upload the film to a computer. Editing software enhances the fun, as does a little LCD screen underneath the car.