• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 21, 2006

Dunkin' Donuts, an online innovator? To launch its new Turbo Ice coffee drink, the donut chain hired advergaming pioneer BrandGames to produce a series of amusing animated shorts and games about Slacker Turtle, a lazy kid in a turtle suit who manages to win races against his nemesis, Da Hare, by drinking Turbo Ice. To draw surfers to the site, BrandGames created rich media banner ads that carried short-form animated movies. The shorts ran on entertainment, music, and gaming sites.

Rather than the usual animated come-ons, however, the Dunkin' Donuts ads were true stand-alone films, uncluttered by text and featuring edgy punch lines.

The up-front approach paid off: The Turbo Ice site racked up 100,000 contest entrants and a four-minute average viewing duration. "This campaign broke new ground on how original branded content can engage young consumers and drive response, and we definitely plan to build on it," says Jim Wexler, executive vice president of BrandGames.