DARTH VADER STARS IN BRITISH COMMERCIAL

In what it described as a “licensing partnership” with Lucasfilm, the British consumer-electronics retail group Dixon’s is launching a multimillion-pound marketing campaign, the centerpiece of which is a 40-second commercial starring Darth Vader. The spot, due to air for the first time on Saturday during The X Factor on ITV, spoofs a scene in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in which Vader inspects the Death Star. In the ad, the dark lord arrives to inspect the 14,000 Dixon’s employees at the company’s Currys and PC World stores. The ad was produced by the M&C Saatchi agency, which last year produced spots for Dixon’s employing the Star Wars robots R2D2 and C3PO. Asked about the extent of Lucasfilm’s involvement in the actual production of the Darth Vader spot, a Saatchi spokesman replied indirectly, “They hold up what we achieved last year as an example of a quality, mutually beneficial licensing partnership.”