Nerf guns, Kraft Dinner and television – all have remarkable nostalgia-inducing powers, and YTV’s Wow! Patrol, a travelling game show kicking off a cross-Canada tour, will unleash them all by visiting festivals and community events this summer. But this is entertainment for the digital native generation, and so an online component is essential, which Kraft and Hasbro, sponsors of the tour that kicks off on June 5 in Mississauga, Ontario, will take advantage of.

In addition to its annual Nerf games, Hasbro is sharpening its branding blades with a Beyblade Metal Fusion Battle Zone, a game that’s based on a TV show with the same name. It’s also promoting its Cuponk cup-and-ball game with a related ‘zone’ but the most interactive element on the tour is Camp Nerf: Operation Training Day, where the best troops receive a badge that unlocks a secret code to the online Camp Nerf Dart Tag game, housed on CampNerf.ca.

Wow! Patrol, which aims to engage kids aged six to 14, will be promoted on-air during YTV’s afterschool block, The Zone, hosted by Carlos. The vehicles that are used for travel will also have built-in video screens previewing new YTV programming.

‘Wow! provides Canadian kids with a great way to experience our brands and we expect that this year will be the best yet, says Greg Ferguson, senior brand manager, Hasbro Canada Corporation, in a statement to MiC about the sponsorship, handled internally by the brand. Beyblade is a returning brand to the market, while Cuponk is a new toy this season, he says.

After all that exertion kids will need to recoup their energy and Kraft Dinner Crackers will provide samples, along with a photo shoot that asks kids to do some cheesy dance moves, photos of which will be posted on a KD Cheesy Wall of Fame. Toronto-based Armstrong Partnership initiated the Wow! sponsorship for Kraft.