All you have to do is turn on your TV or go online this week and your bound to see an ad promoting this Thursday's theatrical release of Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". This past weekend I wrote my first post about it and ever since it seems I've seen Harrison Ford's Indy character just about everywhere! I wrote in my first post about the partnership Major League Baseball has formed with Paramount over the release of this movie and I mentioned that there were another nine brands that have also gotten on this entertainment marketing bandwagon. So I picked Burger King to write about next.
Burger King has launched a national Indy-themed campaign that includes an interactive promotion that you can find on their website... the "Reveal the Secret" scratch-and-win game and the "Big Dig" online game. They also have introduced for a limited time a series of Indy Kids Meal toys as well as a new burger, The Indy Double Whopper, which comes with an extra kick... spicy Cajun mayo and pepper jack cheese.
"Reveal the Secret" game players have a one-in-two chance of winning each time they play, and prizes include $1 million, a 2008 Hummer H2, a trip for four to Peru from Expedia.com (another Indy partner), and free food items from BK.
The game consists of two parts, and in-store game and an online game. "Reveal the Secret" Game pieces are given out in-store and consumers can receive up to three game pieces per visit depending upon what BK items they purchase. Players can scratch off the skull area on the game piece to reveal if they've won and if so what.
Free online game codes are available online at bkindy.com where visitors must first register and can then receive up to three codes per day to play. Each day, a $10,000 prize is hidden on the site. Site visitors enter their code and press the "Dig" icon to stop the roving searchlight and start digging for the prize. Each day the $10,000 prize goes uncovered, an additional $10,000 is added to the total prize. As of today, Courtney B. "dug up" $10,000 on May 14th. So the pot is growing!
Now the odds of winning the $1 million dollars or the 2008 Hummer H2 (valued at over $59,000 U.S.) are one in 278,689,720. So this appears to be an insured prize game and BK pays for the prize insurance based on these odds. Since it is an instant-win game, not a drawing, these prizes may never be awarded. If there is a winner for either prize, then the insurance company will pay to fulfill the prize. The Official Rules state that the winner of the Hummer has the option of taking $55,000 cash instead. With gas prices as they are, who can afford to drive a Hummer these days!
There is also a series of eight adventure-themed Kids Meal toys based on key scenes from all four "Indiana Jones" movies, as well as a Kids Meal bag printed in invisible ink. Each bag is printed with Indy trivia, and answers can only be revealed using the invisible ink pen, one of the Kids Meal toys.
TV spots on network and cable have been scheduled. The children's ads were created by Campbell Mithun of Minneapolis and are running through June 8 on children's cable channels such as Nickelodeon and Disney. The adult spots, created by Miami-based Crispin Porter + Bogusky, are running on major network and cable stations in prime time.
"The cross-generational appeal and cultural phenomenon of the 'Indiana Jones' series make this one of the most coveted entertainment partnerships," said Brian Gies, VP/marketing impact, Burger King Corp., in a statement. "The sponsorship allows Burger King Corp. to give our customers and fans of the movie the action and adventure they love."
Now I read that the movie debuted this past Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival. Most people would agree that this movie wasn't made for critics, it's for the fans, so why did they do that? You can read about what some of the critics are saying here in this article MSNBC picked up. MSNBC also has provided a slide show which includes photos of many of the stars from the Indy movie as well as others that attended the film festival. So, that's worth checking out in itself. Again, let us know what you think of the movie after you've seen it!
The Hummer giveaway is enough to guarantee I will never buy from Burger King again. Promotion of poor choices is laughable. What a bunch of losers.
Posted by: Gregg Fowler | June 09, 2008 at 06:08 PM
Well, BK is offering a $55,000 cash prize instead of the Hummer, which I believe is a very good choice and one they probably included specifically because of gas prices.
Posted by: Donna DeClemente | June 09, 2008 at 06:55 PM