• June 2, 2011

7-Eleven is sending someone into space as part of the largest promotion it has ever done. The effort, a convergence of the 7-Eleven brand with a new sci-fi horror film transcends its traditional product placement and licensing strategy around getting its brand into tentpole films and films into its stores.

The Madison and Vine effort with Steven Spielberg's new Paramount sci-fi horror feature "Super 8," which hits theaters next week, includes a promotion whose grand prize is an honest-to-goodness trip into near-orbit for the winner, via private aerospace firm Space Adventures, Ltd. 

The film, which takes place in 1979, follows a group of friends in a small Ohio town who see a terrible train crash while making a Super 8mm film. They wonder if it was really an accident. Then weird things start happening, and the requisite good-guy local lawman tries to uncover the truth, which turns out to be E.T., though not of the cuddly, anthropomorphic, telephone-using variety.

The effort makes Foursquare the entry portal to an awards cache of 21,000 prizes including movie tickets, 10-zero gravity trips, and Dramamine-required grand prize. To enter the sweepstakes, people check in on Foursquare using their smartphone while at a 7-Eleven store. Prizes are awarded based on the number of check-ins and are selected every time check-ins hit certain thresholds tied to the number 8.