Pirates, McDonalds & Volvo

July 12th, 2006“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” quietly raked in $132 million this weekend surpassing “Spiderman” to become the all time best debut for a film. McDonald’s and Volvo hope to cash in on the excitement surrounding the film.
McDonald’s is giving away 28 Volvos in 28 days along with a pile of other prizes. Get a Big Mac or Supersize your drink or fries and you can win instantly – kind of. Actually, you have to go to the McDonald’s website, sign up (giving them valuable demographic information) and then enter the code from the game piece that came attached to your food. The game site tied in perfectly to the movie and this makes for a perfect example of how the web is enhancing old fashioned marketing and contests.
On another note, Volvo has a contest of its own with their Join The Hunt promotion. Your first task – visit a Volvo dealership to get your treasure map and secret pirate code then go to the website – http://thehunt.volvocars.net. Learn about the contest through Flash Video intros that match up with the TV commercials being shown on all the networks. The objective of the contest is to use the clues to find a Volvo that has been buried somewhere.
2 great promotions for 1 big movie. Both combine traditional marketing channels with new media channels, a great example of how smart companies are getting more from their investment in marketing using the internet.