BotS Marketing

"You think you can track the guys who took it?"

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After the wild success of NATM, BotS got a larger marketing budget. This meant a lot more brand tie-ins, sweepstakes, and commercials. This page seeks to find as many as possible.

Contents
  1. Commercials
    1. Original
    2. Hershey's Kisses
    3. Kraft
    4. McDonald's
  2. Events
  3. Other
  4. References

Commercials
Commercial begins at 8:25.

Original

"Boom! Boom! Firepower!": Likely the most iconic of the ads for the entire franchise. The interstitial text says, "In the world's biggest museum, something huge is about to go down. When everything comes to life, there's one man for the job." It then lists Ben Stiller's acting credit, followed by the names of exhibits.

This trailer has two shots not seen in the film: Al Capone in full color, and Jed cheering from inside the hourglass from a different angle. It also has an edited version of The Thinker's iconic line, removing the "bang" from the line actually said in the film.

Full commercial

Hershey's Kisses

A commercial that aired in May 2009 by the Trust Collective marketing agency and animated by the VFX team at Asylum, on behalf of The Hershey Company. In the description of the YouTube upload, a surprising amount of information is available.[1]

Kraft

The Kraft Macaroni tie-in is a 30-second commercial that stars the mascot Cheesasaurus Rex, who takes on the role of the Night Guard. Upon opening the Gate of Kahmunrah, he is blasted with a torrent of cheese. This commercial aired on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

The sweepstakes for this tie-in is different from the Sleepover Sweepstakes.[6] The grand prize (10 winners) included a trip for four, with included 4 day/3 night stays in a hotel, VIP 2-day access to the Smithsonian, an exclusive tour of filming locations, IMAX theater tickets to the film's premiere, VIP tickets to "other DC attractions", a sleeping bag, and an amount of prize money. First prize (300 winners) was a Cheesasaurus Rex blanket and a DVD copy of BotS. Second prize (2,000 winners) was a Cheesasaurus Rex blanket.

Caro Bernardini created the website where one would enter their code to win. In it, the player entered their access code, and would pick three tiles on the Tablet (altered with nine ingredients of the Kraft macaroni making process), ultimately revealing their prize.[6]

The winners are currently unknown.

Commercial A

McDonald's

The McDonald's tie-in included commercials and a line of toys.

Commercial A

This commercial has a mother and daughter sharing McDonald's on a bench at the AMNH, and Rexy has stolen the daughter's Happy Meal. He gives it back, and the daughter thanks him.

Commercial B

Commercial B

This commercial has a father and son sharing McDonald's while observing The Thinker at the Smithsonian. The Thinker asks the duo for some McNuggets.

Events
Photo by Christina B. Castro[3]

Kahmunrah's Loot Pile

From May 4 to October 1 2009, the pile of loot Kahmunrah gathers was present in the Smithsonian to promote the film. The pile was composed of replicas of actual Smithonian exhibits that were present in the film, including Archie Bunker's chair and the ruby slippers.[2]



Octopi in Madrid

From May 19 to May 25 2009, various advertising columns across Madrid were topped with the iconic octopus to promote NatM 2.[4] The materials used to make the octopi are currently unknown.

The whereabouts of the octopi are currently unknown, and all of them may have been thrown away or destroyed. If you happen to have one, or know of one that survives, please contact us!


Rexy at the San Diego Zoo

To promote BotS, an animatronic Rexy was put on display near the gift shop of the San Diego Zoo. It is unknown how long this animatronic was on display for.



Other

Papermotion

In some magazines and newspapers, ads were printed with QR-style technology that could be scanned with one's webcam. By scanning the ads, one could access "interactive displays of 3D animation, film clips, music, mini-sites and games". This was a point of controversy in Australia.[5]

Sleepover Sweepstakes

A sweepstakes where the winner could stay in the Smithsonian for a night. Promos were put on boxes for cereal, macaroni, and candy.

Gallery

Golden Crisp cereal
Reese's Pieces

Billboards

Los Angeles, California, USA

References
  1. Trust Collective (uploader). Hershey's Kisses - Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian Commercial. 7 May 2009 (accessed 28 December 2025). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hqbNPb_JEo.
  2. The Smithsonian Institution (exhibitor). Pile of Loot from Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Showcased 4 May 2009 - 1 October 2009 (accessed 29 December 2025). Mixed media. https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/pile-loot-night-museum-battle-smithsonian:event-exhib-1162.
  3. Castro, Christina B (photographer). Loot at the Smithsonian. 1 July 2009 (accessed 29 December 2025). https://www.flickr.com/photos/cbcastro/3716113790/in/photostream/.
  4. MarketingNews (publisher). Original acción de exterior para el estreno de “Noche en el museo 2”. 21 May 2009 (accessed 29 December 2025). https://www.marketingnews.es/marcas/noticia/1042226054305/original-accion-exterior-estreno-noche-museo-2.1.html.
  5. Dyer, Glenn (author). News Corp’s “newspaper revolution” marketing ploy. 19 May 2009 (accessed 29 December 2025). https://www.crikey.com.au/2009/05/19/news-corps-newspaper-revolution-marketing-ploy/.
  6. Bernardini, Caro (artist). KM&C - Night at the Museum. Accessed 29 December 2025. https://cargocollective.com/carocarocaro/KM-C-Night-at-the-Museum.
Sources are cited in Kennesaw Style.

Made with ♥ by Ian