February 2012/Prepared Foods -- George Lucas is (again) re-releasing his Star Wars saga, and as with the other launches (and relaunches) of the sci-fi series, licensed tie-ins abound. Brisk Iced Tea’s effort is largely marketing based. Described as “Yoda. Maul. The Ultimate Brawl,” Jedi master Yoda and Sith Darth Maul face off in stop-motion animation, and the action continues in the smartphone application Brisksaber, which allows fans to unlock new characters and objects with codes on 1 liter Brisk bottles.

The Star Wars tie-ins are not limited to beverages, however, or even to North America. France’s Quick fast-food chain is launching a trio of hamburgers to coincide with Star Wars: Episode I’s re-release: the Dark Burger with red-colored buns sprinkled with black pepper and poppy seeds; a Jedi Burger; and a Dark Vador[sic] Burger with pepper Cheddar cheese, pepper sauce, endives and rings of red pepper—all between black-colored buns sprinkled with black pepper and poppy seeds. pf