Promo Parade

Red Stag by Jim Beam, the cherry-infused offspring of Jim Beam Bourbon, announced that it will partner with Kid Rock as the headline sponsor of Kid Rock’s 2009 Rock N’ Rebels Tour, which will hit 25 cities across North America this Summer.

Kid Rock kicked off the Red Stag by Jim Beam partnership on June 14, when the Detroit native served as Grand Marshal of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 race at Michigan International Speedway. Through their support of Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to America’s military veterans returning home to their families, Red Stag and Kid Rock will help fund emergency aid, moving assistance, computer programs and care packages in local chapters throughout the country.

Red Stag by Jim Beam is scheduled to launch in June. The Rock n’ Rebels Tour is scheduled to kick off June 26 in West Palm Beach, FL. Throughout the summer (and where legal), Red Stag by Jim Beam will offer legal purchase age consumers in select markets access to a free, exclusive Kid Rock download, as well as opportunities for VIP passes, access to post-show meet-and-greets, and Red Stag by Jim Beam merchandise.

Red Stag By Jim Beam will also give consumers a chance to enter the “Call of the Wild” sweepstakes, which will grant one winner and three friends an all-access weekend to see Kid Rock perform live in Las Vegas, among other prizes. The sweepstakes runs from July 6, 2009 to August 31, 2009 and will be available through mobile text messaging (SMS) as well as online at www.TheRedStag.com. Entry into the sweepstakes can also be found at www.jimbeam.com, as well as on Facebook through the Red Stag and Jim Beam fan pages.

Box Your Friends

Black Box Wines, the 3 L boxed wine, is launching the “You Got Boxed” contest to challenge fans to let their friends know quality wines can come from a box. For a chance to win, consumers secretly serve guests Black Box Wines and film their reaction to discovering the source. Once the tasting is complete, they submit their video at YouGotBoxed.com for the chance to win a $10,000 prize.

Fans are then invited to vote online for their favorite 2-minute video. The contest launched June 1, 2009 and ends November 30, 2009. Each month a winner will be awarded $2,000, and the $10,000 grand prize winner will be chosen from the six monthly winners. To view official contest rules and enter the contest, visit YouGotBoxed.com.

O, You

owater introduced a new packaging and advertising campaign featuring athletes from around the U.S., including many of owater’s employees.

Each of the new owater labels features illustrations of the athletes, including well-known personalities like professional baseball player Jacoby Ellsbury and football players Steve Young and Brent Jones, but most of the labels’ subjects are of less widely-known – including amateurs and owater staffers.

The athlete’s stories and illustrated images will appear on owater labels, on owater.com and in the company’s advertising. The grassroots campaign is being launched in conjunction with expanded distribution of the company’s healthy sports drinks in several key U.S. markets, including at national retailers like Whole Foods and restaurant chain Au Bon Pain.

Odwalla Plants Trees

Odwalla has made helping the environment just a little easier. With the ease of a mouse click, the Plant a Tree program allows consumers to choose one of 11 state park systems where they would like Odwalla to plant a tree.

The brand is donating $100,000 worth of trees to be planted in state parks in California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Texas, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia in support of reforestation and planting initiatives. Visitors to www.parkvisitor.com/odwalla can make a donation by choosing their preferred state.

No contribution or registration is required. The Odwalla Plant a Tree program runs from May 27, 2009 through December 31, 2009. The species of trees donated will vary by region and will be planted in fall 2009 and early 2010.

Heineken Blok Party

Heineken and Heineken Light will be throwing a “Blok” Party for a lucky winner this Labor Day. Beginning in June, consumers can enter Heineken’s sweepstakes to win one of two grand prizes that includes live entertainment, top-notch catering, and interactive leisure sports for the ultimate “Blok” Party.

Heineken will offer mass displays for liquor stores and cross merchandising offers for grocery and convenience stores. The program will run June through August in retail outlets throughout the country.

Rock Out With Your Cork Out

Boone’s Farm wine has sponsored the US Air Guitar Championships. The 25-city tour, running from May 27 to June 27, helped launch Boones’ latest variety of value-priced wine, Sunshine Pink, and will send one lucky competitor to vie for the title of world’s best air guitarist.

One winner from each city will be brought to a yet-to-be-revealed city in August to compete in the US Air Guitar Finals for the crown of US Air Guitar Champion. The 2009 US Champ will then be sent to Oulu, Finland to represent the USA in the Air Guitar World Championships, where he or she will compete against national air guitar champions from all around the world, including last year’s US and World champion Hot Lixx Hulahan.

NESTEA in CTRL

NESTEA and NBC Universal Digital Studio announced the production of an original webisode series, “CTRL.” The series is based on the Sundance award-winning short film, “CTRL Z,” which screened at the film festival in 2008. “CTRL” stars Tony Hale as Stuart, a mistreated office worker who suddenly discovers that, with the aid of NESTEA and its “Liquid Awesomeness,” he has the ability to manipulate the reality of his office by using his computer.

His newfound abilities include the power to rewind time, move objects, become invisible and read people’s minds. The ten-webisode series will be distributed this summer across a number of platforms including NBC.com, USANetwork.com, Hulu.com, mobile video on demand and gaming consoles.

Additionally, users will find a dedicated website which will showcase the “CTRL” installments, branded games, photo galleries, character bios and a blog kept by the lead character.

Pepsi’s Drink Up, Rock Out Contest

Pepsi, MTV and MTV Games, announced a multi-platform “Drink Up, Rock Out” promotion that will give away thousands of Rock Band music tracks and games. The promotion will include prizes and the opportunity to participate in the Pepsi Rock Band music video contest, the winner of which will be awarded an MTV Video Music Awards Moonman.

The summer promotion begins June 2 and continues through the MTV Video Music Awards. Fans can enter under-the-cap codes at www.PepsiRockBand.com for a chance to win prizes. MTV and Pepsi will give away a Rock Band 2 Special Edition bundle every hour and thousands of Rock Band downloadable tracks each day.

Additionally, fans can enter a weekly sweepstakes for opportunities to win a trip to a Harrah’s Entertainment property, Xbox 360 Consoles and other prizes. Rock Band groups can also win an MTV Moonman by entering their own Rock Band music video at www.PepsiRockBand.com, where bands and fans will be able to view, rate and vote on their favorite Rock Band music videos.

The “Drink Up and Rock Out” summer program will also include promotion across MTV Networks channels, including MTV, MTV2, mtvU, VH1, CMT, Spike, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV Land and Nick at Nite.