Sponsors & Endorsements
Over the years, publishers Eidos Interactive and Square Enix have connected the Tomb Raider brand with other well known names to produce some understandable and some quite... unique products. This list is by no means a complete list, far from it as various countries around the world have their own sponsorships and we've not been able to uncover all of those.
Company logos belong to their registered companies.
Company logos belong to their registered companies.
|
Pizza Hut
1997, 1998 & 1999 During the promotion of Tomb Raider 2, buyers from Pizza Hut were given demo disks of the game. For the promotion of Tomb Raider 3, Sony Computer Entertainment America teamed up with Pizza Hut for a competition. Those who ordered a stuffed crust pizza had the chance to win a grand prize of $200,000 cash, or other a new PlayStation game console with various games: Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Gran Turismo, MediEvil, Spyro The Dragon, Jersey Devil, Tomba!, Hot Shots Golf, Turbo Prop Racing, and Tomb Raider III. Starting from November 22nd 1998, copies of TR3 demo disks were also handled out with orders of a stuffed crust pizza. This was also the same in November 1999 for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation'. |
|
Dominos
1997 In November 1997, a pizza was created specifically for Lara and to reflect the adventure that she was about to embark. To read more of the sponsorship and to see a picture of the pizza, see here. |
|
SEAT
1998-1999 There were several TV adverts created that showed Lara driving a variety of Seat vehicles whilst trying to get out of difficult situations. The ads were only shown in Spain. The cars that Lara drove were Alhambra, Aroza, Cordoba and Ibiza. |
|
Die Arzte Music Video
1998 In March 1998, the German cult band 'Die Arzte' requested the permission to use Lara in one of their music videos as a virtual character. SZM studios in Munich created and realised Lara Croft’s appearance in the video. The single went straight to No.1 in the German Media Control Charts and kept its position for 10 weeks. 'Ein Schwein namens Männer' was the biggest selling single in Germany for 1998. |
|
Marks and Spencer
1998 - 2002 There were several ranges in the UK Marks and Spencer partnership. A few of the earliest things were a pyjama set and a sock and mug set. They even included Lara in their 'St Michael's' brand. |
|
Sci-Fi Channel
1999 Lara was the only virtual character to star in the US SCI FI Channel celebrity-driven campaign called 'I am Sci Fi'. It debuted on TV screens on June 18th 1999. The advert shows Lara at home, playing a game of Pong. When she loses, she gets up and kicks the TV screen. To read the official press release, click here (PDF). |
|
Waterman
1999 Released in France, there were several designs of pens released that use Lara's image and the TR logo. They come as a ballpoint or fountain pen, in single boxes, a double pack with a carrier pouch and also a set with a collector's disk. |
|
Playmates
1999 - 2001 Playmates created a total of 18 figures for Tomb Raider. The very first figure was the 9 inch figure of Lara in a wetsuit. In 2001, they went on to create 8 figures for the first Tomb Raider movie. |
|
Ian Jacobs Racing
1999 In 1999, Eidos Interactive was becoming more involved with real sports, and a major deal to them was the sponsor of the racing team 'Ian Jacobs Racing' 1999 Privilege Insurance British GT2 Championship. The cars were decorated with an image of Lara and Tomb Raider branding. To find out a little more information, see here. |
|
West McLaren F1 Team
1999 Another racing themed sponsor, very little was mentioned about this but there was a photo of Lara posing with racing drivers David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen. To find out a little more information, see here. |
|
Manchester City Football Club
1999 - 2002 This sponsorship isn't so much Tomb Raider but more to do with Eidos Interactive. However, Lara models Lara Weller and Lucy Clarkson visited matches during the 3 year deal. To read more on this and to see some pictures, click here. |
|
Lucozade
1999 - 2003, 2018 This energy drink brand had a strong promotional campaign that it changed its name to 'Larazade' for a short while, and had slogans of 'gone a bit Lara' and 'load it like Lara'. It also became a sponsor to the TR brand again in 2018. To read more of the sponsorship, see here. |
|
Nike
2000 Nike featured Lara in a TV advert in early 2000. It was created by Michel Gondry, beginning in July 1999, and took 6 months to complete. It features a young lad called Leo out-performing sports stars such as Andre Agassi, Ronaldo, Pete Sampras and Michael Jordan in different video game settings, as well as running from aliens. Lara makes a brief appearance as she is battling a T-Rex. The soundtrack was created by Le Hammond Inferno. |
|
Timex
2000 A sponsor of 'Tomb Raider Chronicles'. Fans were able to see one in Lara's inventory and the opening FMV for the VCI section of levels showed Lara checking the time on the Timex. To read more about the sponsorship, see here. |
|
Land Rover
2001 A sponsor of the movie 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider'. A limited edition Land Rover Defender was driven by Lara Croft in the movie, and the ‘Tomb Raider’ edition was released for sale to the public. Two models in fact were seen in Lara's garage: Land Rover Defender 110 and the Land Rover Range Rover Series II. |
|
Ericsson
2001 A sponsor of the movie 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider'. Ericsson products were seen in the film, such as the Ericsson R310, and there were also promotional advertisements, commercials, in-store signs and competitions, as well as a Tomb Raider themed Ericsson website and screensaver. |
|
Taco Bell
2001 A sponsor of the movie 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider'. Staff at Taco Bell restaurants wore Tomb Raider t-shirts, and there was a Tomb Raider themed Taco Bell website and TV commercials featuring the film's trailer and a competition. The in-store promotion, created by Impiric, required consumers to find two triangular game pieces that could be obtained with the purchase of a grilled stuft burrito, or by request through the mail. There were two ways to win: the instant win, which gave out food prizes, music or movie coupons, or some Tomb Raider merchandise. The other way was mix and match, where the triangular pieces showed part of the image of a prize. Winning required the matching of the two pieces to complete the prize picture. The grand prize was a choice between $405,000 cash or an archaeological adventure for four people to Cairo and Luxor in Egypt, and Mexico City and Cancun in Mexico. |
|
Pepsi
2001 A sponsor of the movie 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider', they promoted the film through their TV commercials and advertisements, promotional packaging and competitions. |
|
FM W10 Motorcycle Helmets
2001 Lintek Gleave, a UK motorcycle company, created a range of FM W10 limited helmets, one of them featured Lara. As well as this, there were also 2 desktop wallpapers available to use. |
|
Weetabix Cereal
2001 During the promotion of the first Tomb Raider movie, Lara (Angelina) could be seen on the front of the Weetabix cereal box. Buyers could send off for a free Tomb Raider cap or they could partake in a competition to win one of 6 Land Rover Defender 90 Tomb Raider Limited Edition vehicles. |
|
VISA Card
2003 A sponsor for ‘Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness’. 'All It Takes' was an advertising campaign that featured various actors such as Jackie Chan, Catherine Zeta Jones and Pierce Brosnan. The adverts were created for an Asia Pacific audience. Lara's TV spot was titled 'Monster Chase'. It showed model and actress Sofia Vergara dressed as Angelina Jolie’s version of Lara in the first Tomb Raider movie. There is a part where Lara looks to the player, Sofia, and asks her for help. Sofia throws her a Visa card and it gets her into the electronic door. The monster then comes after Sofia and chases her to the other end of the library. She is then pinned against the bookcase with the monster glaring in front of her. Lara throws her the Visa card back and the commercial ends. There is also a ‘making of’ video that shows how the advert was put together. It took over 12 months to completely plan and make Tomb Raider's portion of the campaign, which were filmed in Prague, in the Philosophical Hall of the Strahov Monastery. Interestingly, the full advert was shown in cinemas whilst the shorter version was shown on television. |
|
G4 Channel
2003 A sponsor of the Tomb Raider series in 2003. G4 was a new channel at the time. TV adverts showed Lara Croft travelling around in reality with a male companion, who would ask her questions. Even when the adverts finished, Lara was frequently seen on the channel, such as in 2005 when she was in a digital beauty pageant called 'Video Game Vixens'. |
|
Jeep
2003, 2006 A sponsor of the film 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life' and of the game 'Tomb Raider: Legend'. In the film, the Jeep Rubicon was used in the scenes in Africa. There were also advertisements and TV commercials, which were also used on the film for home video release and there was even a small downloadable game called ‘Trail of Life’. As well as this, Jeep also built and sold 1000 limited edition Tomb Raider themed Wrangler Rubicons. In 'Tomb Raider: Legend', the Jeep Commander was used by mercenaries and the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon was used by Anaya Imanu. |
|
Panasonic
2003 Seen in the movie 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life'. Promotions for the film coincided with Panasonic's newest e-wear - SD A/V Recorders Models SV-AV20 and SV-AV30, and took place worldwide. Lara is seen using the mobile phone and eye piece. |
|
Ducati
2006 In 'Tomb Raider: Legend', Lara rides a Ducati Monster and a Ducati 999. The Senior Brand Manager for the game at the time, Matt Gorman, said that "both Lara and Ducati share the same qualities; intelligent design, refined toughness, distinct style, beautiful form and world renowned class". |
|
Kick Energy Drink
2013 The energy drink brand featured Lara Croft on the front of 250ml and 500ml cans sold in the UK and USA. The promotion featured a competition where in the UK; the grand prize winner won a trip for two people to Thailand. The US winner would get a trip for two people to Hawaii. A hundred other winners received a free standard copy of the game 'Tomb Raider' (2013). Every person that entered received a pair of exclusive tracks of the game's soundtrack. The drinks cans were limited edition. |
|
Erik Jones Racing
2016 Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Years Celebration became a sponsor of the American stock car driver Erik Jones in 2016, for the races on September 30th and October 1st in Dover, Delaware. His car was decorated with the imagery of the 20th anniversary of Tomb Raider. |
|
Coca-Cola
2014 & 2018 Lara Croft first featured on the cans of the Coca-Cola Zero brand in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the promotion of 'Lara Croft & The Temple of Osiris'. In August 2018, Coca-Cola teamed up with Tomb Raider to sponsor the game 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider' in the US, Germany and Poland. Bottles and cans could be bought with three different logos- 'Tomb Raider', 'Lara Croft' or 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider'. Also, on September 12th 2018 in the US, a feature length film was shown, featuring Clair Marie, a BASE jumper, climber and mountain biker, as she attempted Lara Croft like challenges. Fans had to buy a ticket from the official Coke-Tomb Raider website, and were also treated to exclusive footage from SotTR and an exclusive code for an in-game item. |