• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 1, 2008

Rival pizza restaurants Domino's and Papa John's kicked off separate campaigns Monday based on legends of "Batman" and "The Mummy," offering consumers collectible pizza boxes, free digital content, and tons of cash.

Promoting the new Batman movie from Warner Bros., "The Dark Knight," Domino's is offering consumers its Gotham City Pizza, a large, hand-tossed pizza, "shrouded in mystery and cloaked in 50% more pepperoni" for $9.99, now through July 27.

The pizza--delivered in a specially designed Gotham City pizza box-- comes in four versions, each highlighting Batman themes. "The idea was to create a fun dark pizza delivered in a box with cool graphics that can communicate other parts of the campaign," says Jim Zimmer, manager of national marketing at Domino's.

The box gives customers instructions on gaining access into the Dark Knight Vault at dominos.com through the online pizza tracker tool. Those who visit the vault will find exclusive trailers, video games, and autographed movie scripts.

Domino's customers ordering the Gotham City Pizza at most of the 5,100 U.S. stores automatically become eligible to win $10,000 delivered to their door in a Gotham National Bank armored vehicle. The daily winners are picked at random, generated through algorithms in software provided by promotions agency Momentum, St. Louis.

The promotion runs the gamut from national television and local radio advertising, to print, email programs and online. In keeping with "The Dark Knight" theme, the television ad shows a woman delivering a Gotham City pizza to the Joker's home. Movie characters associated with the Joker answer the door. Zimmer could not confirm, but the TV ad seems to follow the dedication message in the movie scheduled for release later this month.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, the end of "The Dark Knight" rolls a special dedication to special effects technician Conway Wickliffe, who lost his life in a stunt accident, and the Australian actor Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker in the movie. He died from an accidental drug overdose in January.

Promoting the theatrical release of "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" with Universal Pictures, Papa John's joins in offering three one-topping pizzas for $21. The pizzas will be wrapped in custom boxes with coupons for $3 and $5 off "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" DVDs. The promotion runs through July 27.

A signature from Noel Neill, the first Lois Lane, turned a Papa John's Super Man pizza box signed at an event in Metropolis, Ill. into a collector's item. "Before the ink was dry, a box with her signature sold on eBay for about $50," says Papa John's spokeswoman Tish Muldoon.

Papa John's will run print, television and in-store ads, along with online trailers with download, screensavers and director's Web diaries, and a special-themed Papa John's Mummy gift card. Restaurant employees will wear hats and stickers.

Movie theaters have stepped up efforts, too. AMC and Carmike Cinemas, CineMedia/Century and several regional and local chains plan to show pre-show slides on 6,000 screens in 600 theaters. More than 6 million Coke cups with peel-off coupons for pizza become available at concession stands before the July 4 weekend. A text-to-win sweepstakes will send a lucky winner to Orlando's Universal Studios theme park.

Prior to the theatrical release of "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," Papa John's and Universal Pictures will hold a family event July 27, at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal CityWalk, which features restaurants, shops and movie theaters. The movie screens in an outdoor amphitheater, followed by Papa John's pizza for all who attend.