DALLAS -- In June, 7-Eleven Inc. will award a trip to space as part of its month-long promotion for the science-fiction film Super 8. Prizes, special prices, special movie-themed cups and online rewards are part of the 7-Eleven's sweepstakes built around what is expected to be one of the summer's biggest movies.
Super 8 is an Amblin Entertainment/Bad Robot production, directed by J.J. Abrams from his original script and produced by Steven Spielberg, Abrams and Bryan Burk. The film stars Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron [image-nocss] Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills and will be released by Paramount Pictures nationwide on June 10.
The movie takes place in the summer of 1979, where a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a Super 8 mm film and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local deputy tries to uncover the truth.
"As part of our exciting 2011 summer season, 7-Eleven is providing value to consumers with a fun promotion tied to the Super 8 movie," said 7-Eleven chief marketing officer Rita Bargerhuff. "Not only will there be special prizes and a retro look from the 1970s at the stores in honor of the movie, this promotion will rank as the largest ever for 7-Eleven with an expected 21,000 prizes distributed. Topping it off will be a suborbital space flight, our grandest prize ever."
The look also is extending to the website, www.7-Eleven.com, with a retro logo to accompany the promotion for the month, spokesperson Margaret Chabris told CSP Daily News.
During the sweepstakes, up to 21,475 prizes will be awarded including thousands of movie tickets, 10 zero-gravity trips and a grand prize trip to suborbital space.
Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, 7-Eleven's senior vice president of merchandising, marketing and logistics, said, "We hope fans enjoy the movie and share in the thrill of this unique space-based sweepstakes. Some adventurous customers will get the chance of a lifetime with a zero-gravity flight experience, and one lucky winner will receive what could just be a life-altering suborbital trip to space."
To enter the sweepstakes, 7-Eleven guests check in on Foursquare, a location-based social media mobile platform, using their smart phone while at a 7-Eleven store. Prizes are awarded based on the number of check-ins and are selected every time check-ins hit certain thresholds tied to the number "8."
The following prizes will be awarded when the corresponding number is reached: Every 88th person wins a free movie ticket. Every 88,888th person to check in wins a ticket for Zero Gravity Corp.'s ZERO-G Experience, the only commercial opportunity on Earth for individuals to experience true "weightlessness" without going to space. The 888,888th check-in unlocks the grand-prize spaceflight--see the Black Sky and the curvature of the Earth as you float in space. The flight is offered through the private space-exploration company Space Adventures, Ltd., with an estimated value of more than $100,000.
Customers can check in via Foursquare as often as once every three hours at any single 7-Eleven store and can check in at as many different stores as they like each day. The tally of store check-ins on Foursquare will be regularly updated on Slurpee and 7-Eleven Facebook fan pages and Twitter. Official sweepstakes rules for entry are at www.7-Eleven.com/checkintospace.
Also at 7-Eleven:
Special Cups: 7-Eleven has created a Super Big Gulp cup which features the Super 8 movie poster art and scenes from the film. "Super" Prices: Eight is the lucky number for 7-Eleven customers during the month of June, with specials available at participating stores. Customers should look for special pricing on select items that end in the number "8," such as 88-cent brownies, 98-cent chicken tenders and sausage biscuits, two 1-liter bottles of Ozarka Water for $1.98, two 32-ounce bottles of Gatorade for $2.98 or two 12-ounce cans of Red Bull for $4.98. A special display featuring retro candy brands throughout the store with products sold at a value-price of 98 cents or two for 98 cents.
Assisting 7-Eleven in developing the promotion around the Super 8 movie release is FreshWorks, 7-Eleven Inc.'s advertising and marketing agency, which is a consortium of Omnicom companies.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 8,400 7-Eleven stores in North America. Globally, there are more than 40,800 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. During 2010, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales of more than $62.7 billion.
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