wow -- walmart is doing something cool! well, if you're a dork, that is (and yes, i'm a dork). they have a series of events around the star wars episode III called 48 Hours of the Force, where (according to brandweek) they'll have "toy & game demonstrations from Hasbro, product sampling, Star Wars character appearances, and, while supplies last, free Star Wars force detection collectable cards" (!!!). in addition, they're going to have an early bird special, where customers who receive a certificate can mail it in to get four action figures (Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and Chewbacca), which is the same mail-in figure promotion that was done in 1977.
mark your calendar now!

m&ms also has a star wars tie-in: they're launching dark chocolate m&ms in conjunction with episode III. apparently both the new dark and the original (milk) chocolate m&ms will feature special star wars-themed colors and packaging. i'm pretty excited about "Darth Mix", which features black, maroon, purple, dark blue, and silver m&ms. the milk chocolate "Jedi Mix" contains beige, cream, pastel green, gold, and light-saber blue. oooh!