Oscar Mayer will sponsor Season 7 of “American Idol” and has signed Season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin to beef up the national jingle contest that the brand ran last year.
Oscar Mayer reprises its Sing the Jingle, Be the Star contest this week, inviting entrants to sing their version of Oscar Mayer’s classic jingles for the chance to appear in a TV spot. Three grand-prize winners also get a trip for two to the “American Idol” Season 7 finale in Los Angeles.
The Weinermobile will tour the country this summer to host auditions for the contest. Yamin kicks off the tour on June 13, hosting auditions near the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, where “American Idol” hosted its Season 6 finale Wednesday night.
Individuals—and, for the first time, singing groups up to five people—can audition in person at Weinermobile stops, or via mail or online at SingTheJingle.com through October. They can sing the Oscar Mayer Weiner jingle, the Bologna song, or the Spanish-language version of the hot dog jingle. Singers can enter through Oct. 31.
Oscar Mayer’s judges will choose 12 finalists to post on the contest Web site for consumers to vote for their favorite. That voting takes place Jan. 15, 2008 through Feb. 15. The judges will use those votes to help them choose the three top winners, one soloist each in English and Spanish, and one group (singing in either language).
The winners will appear in a TV spot for Oscar Mayer next year.
Oscar Mayer supports the contest with American Idol images on 250 million packages of Oscar Mayer lunchmeat, hot dogs, corn dogs and bacon.
Meanwhile, an instant-win game lets non-singers play, too. The online game at SingtheJingle.com lets fans enter the UPC code from packages of Oscar Mayer meats to win one of five trips to the “American Idol” finale. One thousand first-prize winners get an MP3 player; another 1,200 winners get an American Idol All Star Challenge DVD game.
D.L. Blair administers the jingle contest and the instant-win game for the Kraft Foods division.
Oscar Mayer has run jingle contests for several years, but this is only the second year that it has tied the promotion to “American Idol.”
“The Oscar Mayer jingles have collectively delighted people for more than a century so what better way to celebrate our iconic melodies than by harmonizing with America’s biggest singing competition,” said Heather Fries, Oscar Mayer’s marketing director, in a statement.
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