• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, April 26, 2017

Doritos hopes to realize an out-of-this-world sales bump through a packaging stunt tying in with the second installment in Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise.

For the series’ “Vol. 2” installment, Doritos will release a limited number of packages that let consumers listen to the movie’s full soundtrack by plugging earphones into a replica of a retro cassette player built into the bags. The bags will be available for sale on Amazon starting April 28.

Doritos has done other tie-ins with Marvel over the years, and the Frito-Lay snack brand also has been using music-focused marketing — like a huge music/game arcade at last year’s E3 Live expo — to woo young consumers.

In addition, based on the performance of the first “Guardians” soundtrack, the appeal of the new movie’s soundtrack would seem to be a sure bet. The first movie’s soundtrack, devoted to hits from the late 60’s through late 70’s, became the first soundtrack consisting of previously released songs to hit No 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. It topped the Billboard Top Soundtracks list for 16 weeks and has sold more than a million copies in the U.S. to date.

“Vol. 2”’s soundtrack also consists entirely of hit 60’s and 70’s oldies (hence the retro cassette player theme on the bag), including George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,” Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky,” Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me,” Jay & the Americans’ “Come a Little Bit Closer,” and nine others.

Marvel and Doritos “have a very similar set of core fans,” and wanted to make the new soundtrack accessible in a way that only these two brands could offer, summed up Mindy Hamilton, SVP of global partnerships at Marvel Entertainment. 

Doritos worked with The Marketing Arm, Frito-Lay’s consumer engagement agency, to create the bags and the campaign, according to a brand rep.

In addition to PR/media outreach, influencers are being armed with the limited-edition bags and asked to sing or lip sync to a track from the movie soundtrack in unexpected places like  crowded subway stations, libraries and dog parks.

On May 5, the day of the movie’s premiere, Doritos will also host “Rock Out Loud” pop-up recording booths in high-traffic locations in New York (Greeley Park) and Los Angeles (Hollywood Boulevard). Fans will be invited to sing hits from the soundtrack and upload them from the booths for judging and a chance to win a music bag, concert tickets, and Doritos. 

Doritos will also encourage fans to post images of themselves  “rocking out loud” with a bag of Doritos, using #doritosrockoutloud, for possible rewards.

The Doritos/Marvel tie-in deal for the movie also includes Doritos bags featuring the movie’s characters to be sold at retail nationwide.

Fans can enter codes from the bags at Doritos.com to collect entries and chances to win prizes.