We may still be on the uphill slope to Thanksgiving, but for Miramax Films it’s not too early to start thinking about March 2009. That’s when the teen comedy “Adventureland” is set to open, and the company is hoping to create early buzz for the film with a microsite and an online gaming contest.
The picture, written and directed by “Superbad’ director Greg Mottola, revolves around a college grad forced to work at a local amusement park to earn money for a dream European vacation. And the Web site picks up on that theme by offering online versions of four classic carnival games: Skee Ball, Horse Derby, Root Beer Pong and Whack a Mole.
Visitors can play the games for fun after viewing a short clip from the film before the start of each game. Alternatively, they can register at the site with a user name, password and e-mail contact and take part in the “Adventureland” contest. The aim is to log the highest score for any of the four games during one of the eight weekly contest periods between Nov. 22, and Jan. 16, 2009.
Each of those eight weeks, Miramax and online agency Media Storm will give out four “Adventureland” branded Flip Mino video cameras from Pure Digital. After Jan. 16, visitors who submit their scores before Feb. 13, will be entered into a grand prize sweepstakes drawing for a European trip for two.
The online games, built by Web entertainment firm Liquid Generation, include a weekly score leaderboard, pass-along features and the ability to be placed on popular social net profile pages. The microsite will be promoted on various online ad networks, social media and gaming Web sites.
The Web effort is an attempt to build early awareness of the film and engagement with its hard-to-reach target demographic.
“We want our target audience to experience ‘Adventureland’ long before they see it in theaters,” Media Storm managing partner Craig Woerz said in a release. “The interactive carnival games enable us to align with their interests and behaviors and speak directly to them at various online touch points.”
Since the film’s protagonist misses out on a chance to tour Europe, “We felt it was only appropriate for a randomly selected online carnival game winner to get the opportunity,” said Miramax Films director of media Jeannie Kim. “This is just another example of integrating the film within promotional content. By the time ‘Adventureland’ hits theaters in late March, we hope moviegoers feel they already have a relationship with the film and are excited to see it on the big screen.”
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