Chew on This
I was held up at airport security for an hour a couple of years ago because they suspected I had a serrated-edge razor blade in my backpack. Now, as a creative director, there’s no telling what might be in my bag at any given time, but i KNEW i didn’t have any razor blades (who uses razor blades anymore, besides Paulie Cicero in Goodfellas?). Turned out it was the foil wrapper from a stick of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum, which i had absent-mindedly folded into a tiny square while bored in whatever meeting I had endured that day.
I think of that story every time i open a package of Wrigley’s gum, but today I got something unexpected: a chance to win tickets to the NBA finals. And, better than a simple chew and win, this promotion puts a bounty on the heads of NBA players.
The packages (all new design) feature the name of a player and an online code. Chewers enter the name at nba.com/wrigley and, if their player leads the NBA in points, assists or rebounds in June, they can win trips to the finals.
The well-designed website encourages consumers to build a team of players by buying multiple packs of gum, which is an engaging idea, given all the interest in fantasy leagues these days. But, sadly, the whole thing is basically a qualified sweeps, with consumers who have the winning names being entered in a random draw to award the big prizes. It would be a lot more fun if everyone lucky enough to have the winning player would win, simple as that. But a lot more complicated, too . . .
I’ve presented ideas to all the leagues over the years to link prizes to actual player performance, but they’ve always been shot down because it seems like legalized gambling. (Forget that the newspapers print a daily line on every game; that has nothing to do with gambling. Probably just a lot of statistics nerds reading the sports section). It WOULD be great for a brand to link rewards to actual player performance, beyond the ever-present “score 100, everyone gets free tacos” promotions. It would take sponsorships to the next level, and drive a lot of interest in the seemingly endless parade of dull regular-season games that plague all the sports.
Still, Wrigley’s smart to link the players and performance to its product, and try to own the fantasy experience. I’m just bitter because my pack stuck me with Glen Davis. Guess I’ll be buying more gum, won’t I?
