Club Nokia to offer images of apes

9 Aug 2001 at 12:00 GMT Timo Nykänen

The world's leading mobile phone maker Nokia, eager to become also a major content provider, announced a deal yesterday with Twentieth Century Fox International to promote Fox's summer sci-fi blockbuster film, Planet of the Apes.

The deal will see Nokia offer ape-related SMS and WAP logos, picture messages and animated screensavers via its Club Nokia mobile portal to users in Germany, Italy and the UK. Nokia said users would be able to access Planet of the Apes content about two weeks prior to the film's opening in each country. The film is scheduled to open in the UK on August 17th, in Germany on August 30th and in Italy on September 14th.

Nokia said a print ad campaign, featuring the tagline "prepare to join the rebellion", will be launched in newspapers and magazines to invite customers to log onto the Club Nokia website.

"As Nokia's first major cross-media campaign with the film industry, this deal represents an important milestone by offering new opportunities for the film industry to promote Hollywood entertainment," said Ilkka Raiskinen, Vice President of Nokia Mobile Phones' Applications and Services unit.

Planet of the Apes made an impressive USD 68.5 million in its opening weekend in the US, and has already reached USD 26 million in Latin America, where it premiered last weekend.