Sex and the City & its lasting appeal

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: When it comes to products helping to promote the coming film based on the popular TV series “Sex and the City,” it seems the sky is the limit.

Better make that the Skyy is the limit, as in Skyy vodka, which is being named the “official spirits sponsor” for the movie. Among the tie-ins are drinks made with Skyy to be served at Houlihan’s restaurants and named after characters like Carrie, Samantha and Mr Big.

Skyy Spirits, part of Gruppo Campari, is among eight marketers—big, small and in between—that have agreed to be promotional partners for the New Line Cinema release “Sex and the City: The Movie”.

The partner brands are included in the film in ways that range from mentions in lines of dialogue to numerous appearances on screen. In exchange, the owners of the brands will help publicise the movie with commercials, posters, sweepstakes, viewing parties, events in stores, contests, ticket giveaways and even products with labels inspired by “Sex and the City.”

Reflecting the appeal of the series, a mainstay on HBO from 1998 to 2004, the sponsors mainly sell products aimed at women or want to increase sales among female shoppers. In addition to Skyy, they include Bag Borrow or Steal, which rents handbags and jewelry online; Coty fragrances; Glaceau Vitaminwater, sold by the Coca-Cola Co; the Mercedes-Benz USA division of Daimler; and the jeweler H Stern.

“We’ve positioned this movie from the beginning as ‘the Super Bowl for women,’” said Chris Carlisle, president for marketing at New Line Cinema, part of Time Warner, borrowing a phrase used by Madison Avenue to celebrate the large female audience for the annual broadcasts of the Academy Awards.