Jane Fonda’s ‘Start Up’ Won’t Start Until Tuesday; Nabisco Deal Goes Stale

If you’ve been looking for the Jane Fonda workout video offer that was supposed to have appeared on boxes of Nabisco Shredded Wheat, turn your search from the cereal aisle of your grocery store to the exercise aisle at your video store.

The promotional deal between Nabisco and Fonda’s video company, Lorimar, fell through (boxes of shredded wheat and other cereals were to have contained a coupon enabling the purchaser to get a new Fonda workout tape for $19.98). However, Lorimar isn’t crying over spilt milk: It’s releasing “Start Up With Jane Fonda” Tuesday--and at the same bargain price.

Described by Lorimar as being “more than a warm-up and less than a full workout,” “Start Up” differs from other Fonda exercise tapes in two major ways: It’s $20 cheaper; it’s also considerably shorter--only 25 minutes.

Like the newest video by Fonda’s chief competitor, “Kathy Smith’s Starting Out,” “Start Up” goes back to basics and is aimed at beginners. (The new Smith offering, released Jan. 28 by Fox Hills, is notable too for its low price. At $19.95, it’s $10 less than her previous tapes, which were released by a different company, JCI-- and it’s a full 60 minutes.)

Two more unusual things about the new Fonda video: It will include rebate offers ($2 off its own purchase; $5 off the price of any other Fonda workout) and will be shipped to dealers only during the month of March. The last day a dealer can order the cassette is March 14.

And why are the two biggest names in video exercise coming out with such similar programs almost simultaneously? The industry magazine Video Insider says it’s not so coincidental: “Fonda and Smith sometimes work out together, bounce ideas off each other, and even plan their new workout tapes together to some extent,” the publication says. “Their competing programs have made Smith and Fonda friends, not enemies.”