Cameras are now rolling in the next phase of Dairy Queen’s year-long celebration of the DQ blizzard’s 25th anniversary. Specifically, Blizzard fans are being asked to record a short film offering a musical birthday tribute to the popular menu item, with a $25 Dairy Queen gift card and a few moments of online fame as rewards.
In “Operation happy Birthday” fans 18 or older can record a one-minute video of themselves, their friends, family or pets singing “Happy Birthday” to the DQ Blizzard—or rapping, dancing or playing a musical instrument in tribute to the frozen dessert.
Once it’s recorded, they can upload the video to their personal YouTube account with the title “Happy Birthday Dairy Queen Blizzard’ and tagging it “Dairy Queen”, “Dairy Queen Blizzard’ and “Happy Birthday Blizzard”.
With those steps done, entrants must then fill out a submission form, including their personal data and the URL of the clip. The submission phase of the contest ends August 1.
After that date, a panel of judges will select the top 100 videos, based on originality, creativity, adherence to the theme and observance of the 60-second time limit. Those 100 entrants will find their videos posted to Dairy Queen’s YouTube channel, the brand’s Facebook page and the Dairy Queen blog. Videos will also be posted to those channels periodically during the submission period, to keep the energy going.
The 100 finalists will get a $25 Dairy Queen gift card. And one finalist may win the top prize in the contest; having his or her video posted straight to the Dairy Queen home page.
This promotion is the online component of the brand’s festivities around the 25th anniversary of the DQ Blizzard. Last month Dairy Queen launched a cross-country 25-city tour of mobile trucks decked out to look like Blizzards on wheels. Through mid-August, the trucks will be giving away free treats in the new 7-ounce Mini-Blizzard size. That campaign debuted with a national ad featuring The Blizzmans, a family so desperate for free ice cream that they will run through a car wash.
And in retail stores next month, Dairy Queen will partner with Kraft Foods’ Oreo brand on a limited-time offering of Oreo Blizzard cookies, with Blizzard 25th anniversary messaging on the package. According to Dairy Queen, the blended Oreo version of the Blizzard is the top-selling flavor of the treat on DQ menus. Oreo is also co-branding the Blizzard Mobile tour.
Network
