Candy brand Starburst has signed on as title sponsor of a concert series at Six Flags theme parks this summer.
The Masterfoods USA brand will sponsor the Starburst Thursday Night Summer Concert Series, starring performers such as Ne-Yo, Cheyenne and Ryan Cabrera.
The series runs from June 21 through Aug. 9, with concerts in Six Flags’ six parks in Washington, DC, San Antonio, Atlanta, St. Louis, Jackson, NJ, and Agawam, MA.
Six Flags will set up Starburst V.I.P. seating at each concert; park visitors can get in by showing wristbands they get when they buy Starburst candies in the park’s candy shops. A limited number of wristbands will be given out each Thursday.
Starburst and Six Flags are also developing a national sweepstakes that will award a grand-prize trip for four to the Six Flags concert of the winner’s choice. Details on that sweeps aren’t set yet.
The music tie-in is a new tack for Starburst, which generally relies on TV and print ads and on-pack promotions to reach its target audience of teens. The Six Flags deal gives Starburst a new venue to reach young adults, “our strongest audience,” said Masterfoods spokesperson Ryan Bowling.
Starburst and sister brand Skittles are in the midst of an on-pack game with a pool of “old school” and “new school” prizes, including a vintage 1966 Ford Mustang and a new Mustang. The game, called Text Thru Time, puts game codes on candy packages. Players enter the codes online or via text message to trigger an instant-win message. The top winner chooses from the vintage or new Mustang; one first-prize winner gets $10,000. Smaller prizes include video game systems—Xbox 360 and classic Atari—and music systems—iPods and jukeboxes. The game runs through Jan. 2, 2008.
Masterfoods negotiated the Six Flags deal in-house, and the two are developing other promotions to run in the parks this summer. Don Jagoda Associates will handle brand placement within the parks. Chiat/Day handles Starburst advertising.
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