• by David Kaplan , December 13, 2004

The Winter X Games--a series of death-defying races and competitions-- is taking a page from NBC's "Fear Factor" and an assortment of Halloween movies in a new promotion that features athletes such as a snowboarder locked in a closet with roaches and a skier confronted by a severed hand in a bowl.

ESPN is bringing the fright to Winter X Games Nine in a marketing campaign with competition that is "Not fearless... but close." The reality-theme promotion shows cold-weather action sports athletes being bold when it comes to competing in action sports, but asks whether they are dauntless and daring in everything they do.

The hidden camera-style campaign--which was created by Ground Zero of Los Angeles--may be the first time that reality-type television has been featured in a national advertising campaign, said Lee Ann Daly, executive vice president, marketing, ESPN.

"This project was incredibly fun--it might be the first time ever that a series of carefully planned practical jokes were captured on film and used to make a TV campaign," Daly said. "This time we kind of turned the notion of X athletes' fearlessness on its ear and instead of focusing on their admirable, fearless, athletic talents, we captured X athletes scared out of their wits in the midst of some really fun practical jokes. The spots capture the sense of humor a lot of young folks enjoy nowadays."

The Winter X Games is a sports competition featuring more than 230 athletes from around the world competing for medals and prize money in a variety of dangerous activities. The sporting contests include Moto X, Ski, Snowboard, and Snowmobile.

The ninth annual event will take place in Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado and will air live on ESPN and ABC Sports January 29-February 1, 2005. Additionally, SportsCenter, ESPN's flagship daily news program, will report live from Aspen/Snowmass on Monday, January 31 and Tuesday, February 1.

Each of the four :30 and three :15 spots will air on all ESPN networks on December 15.

In addition to the spots running on ESPN networks, a print ad will run in ESPN The Magazine and on ESPNMotion, ESPN.com's innovative feature for high-quality video. Spots will also be made available on EXPN.com and on various Winter X Games event sponsor Web sites.

ESPN, The Worldwide Leader in Action Sports, first developed its X Games franchise in 1995.