• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, May 5, 2008

Wanna sell more Slurpees? What better way than to hit the ground running with one of the best-selling video game franchises? After all, as 7-Eleven knows, men ages 18 to 34 love both.

To promote its new Full Throttle Frozen Blast Slurpee drink this month, 7-Eleven is partnering with Activision and Microsoft in a marketing and PR blitz designed to reach music-loving, video-game-playing, techno-savvy guys.

Online and radio contests, grassroots events and traveling street teams will call attention to 7-Eleven's promotion of Activision's highly anticipated "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith." The Guitar Hero video game franchise has sold more than 14 million games worldwide since its introduction in 2005.

In an online contest at slurpee.com, visitors can enter codes found on specially marked 22-ounce Guitar Hero-branded Slurpee cups for a chance to win a copy of the new "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" video game, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, or Microsoft Points to purchase content from Xbox Live Marketplace.

One copy of the new game will be awarded every hour throughout the month of May, for a total of 744 games. In addition, 10 winners each will receive a prize package that includes an Xbox 360 console along with a copy of "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith." Finally, more than 711,000 Microsoft Points will be awarded.

"The sweet spot of the core Slurpee customer is between 18 and 24 years old," said Jay Wilkins, brand manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp beverages, in a statement. "Our goal is to keep Slurpee as cool today as it was to teens and young adults in the 1960s when it was introduced."

Other marketing support in the month-long promotion include:

Giant tear-off pads of posters featuring art from "Guitar Hero" and Full Throttle Frozen Blast Slurpee will be posted at 484 outdoor locations near schools, transit stations, theaters, skate parks, beaches, etc., in Baltimore-Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco-Bay Area, New York, Chicago, Boston and Austin, Texas.

Media vans, each with a 6- by 12-foot video screen, will visit select 7-Eleven stores where visitors can play a version of "Guitar Hero."

More than 10,000 custom guitar picks printed with Full Throttle Frozen Blast on one side and the slurpee.com address on the other will be distributed at special events.

Full-color ads including Slurpee coupons will run in 21 college and university newspapers in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.