NBC, Toyota Pair to Draw Teens to Friday Night Lights
NBC has paired up with Toyota to help promote the network’s upcoming football drama Friday Night Lights to teenagers with screenings and a sweepstakes.
Students 14 to 18 register for the Toyota Presents Friday Night Lights Hometown Sweepstakes at NBC.com/FridayNightLights by Sept. 30. A grand prize of $50,000 is earmarked for the winning student’s high school athletic program and an appearance, along with five friends, in an episode of Friday Night Lights. Four second-prizes of $25,000 each will be contributed to runner-up schools.
“This is just a way for us to give back to communities and help students,” said Allison Takahashi, spokesperson, Torrance, CA-based Toyota. “It is also part of our youth marketing strategy.”
Sweeps winners will be announced in an October episode of the show. On the NBC.com/FridayNightLights Web site, students can download screensavers, wallpapers and AOL Instant Messenger icons of the show’s cast.
In addition, teens can download passes to nationwide screenings of the football drama. The screenings runs through Sept. 28 and will take place in 50 cities including Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Portland and Philadelphia.
Co-branded flyers, posters and footballs will be mailed out to schools in these locations to support the promotion.
The football drama debuts Oct. 3 on NBC. The series (which expands on the feature film of the same name) centers on the small rural town of Dillon, TX (even though it’s shot in Austin, TX). The town holds the coveted state football championship rings in high regard. Dillon’s promising high school team led by newly appointed head coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler of King Kong and Grey’s Anatomy) feel the pressure of the town’s pride and honor riding on their shoulders as a new football season kicks off.
In a separate development, Toyota will sponsor three additional motocross riders—Matt Lemoine (Star Racing Yamaha), Kyle Chisholm (Team Green Kawasaki) and Alisa Nix (FMF Yamaha) through the 2007 Supercross and Motocross season as part of the Toyota Motocross Team (TMX). TMX supports amateur motocross riders with sponsorships, training and exposure to help them advance in the sport. As Toyota-sponsored riders Lemoine, Chisholm and Nix will each receive a Toyota Tacoma, training and exposure through Toyota marketing efforts including Toyota branding through the 2007 race season.
Alloy Media + Marketing, New York City, handles the screenings. NBC handles the sweeps in-house.
