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Client: Warner Bros. Pictures
Creative Agency: hyperQUAKE

To promote this year's highly anticipated launch of the film "The Dukes of Hazzard," Warner Bros. partnered with hyperQUAKE to develop an online advertising campaign to spread awareness to its targeted demographic -- teenage boys. This campaign includes a series of banner ads and the website, www.RunninFromRosco.com, where site visitors can play a game inspired by the film's cast and characters.

This unique strategy aims to attract the target audience by introducing a series of "secret codes" in the banner ads that players can use to unlock special cars within the game.

The object of the game is to see how far you can jump your car (the General Lee) over the creek, while avoiding Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Hazzard's finest. After each jump, you can see how far you traveled and if you were able to make it onto the leader board.

Players are encouraged to locate additional "secret codes" within the ad campaign to unlock vehicles such as Daisy's 4x4, Boss Hogg's Convertible, Cooter's Tow Truck and one "mystery" vehicle. The campaign ads are currently being integrated into the official movie site, fan sites and other entertainment outlets (such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo!).

The quick repetition of game-play and the availability of "secret cars" hopes to intrigue online audiences and fans of the original television series. This strategy not only helps to increase the amount of time spent on the game and the official movie site, but also encourages viral marketing through the send-to-a-friend feature. Over the lifecycle of this campaign, in-depth tracking will be used to monitor the patterns of players and calculate ROI.

"Runnin' from Rosco" has already increased site visits and awareness of the feature film, and it is providing a unique method for Warner Bros. to promote to their audience.

"The Dukes of Hazzard" opens nationally on August 5th.
-- Chad Reynolds, president & COO, hyperQUAKE

In the interest of full disclosure, I was a member of "The Dukes of Hazzard" fanclub when I was younger. Go ahead -- check the records. It's true. I also own "The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General" game for the PS2. So needless to say, I had high expectations for the Runnin' From Rosco online game.
 
After playing the game for about 30 minutes, I decided to finally stop and write my opinion. Yes, it's repetitive. VERY repetitive. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, it gets annoying with the sound and music on. But the fact remains -- I (of the short attention span and high expectations) still played it for a half an hour. That's 30 minutes longer than I've paid attention to this latest reincarnation of the Duke boys altogether. I was challenged (or challenged myself) to beat my score over and over again, and scoured the web for codes to unlock the other vehicles -- including the "hidden" one.
 
There are still some things I would have liked to see in this game, though. There were no rewards for achieving certain scores. It would have been great to see scenes from the movie, more shots of Jessica Simpson, additional information about the characters, or more shots of Jessica Simpson.
 
Furthermore, after staring at that game screen for 30 minutes, I realized there was no release date information on the game itself. That was a lost opportunity to remind me that the movie was coming out this weekend.
 
All in all though, it's a fun little game, with a few missed marketing opportunities. But it works by keeping me thinking about the movie, and taking my mind off the real Cooter, Ben Jones, telling me not to go see it unless they "clean it up." I give it 3.5 out of five yee-hahs.
-- Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus

Don't ya'll think it's a bit p'culiar that this game ain't featured on the 'fficial site? There's a section for games like "Pimp your Rod," but no driving game links. Dukes of Hazzard is screaming for a dirty car chase, so I am surprised that the "Runnin from Rosco" content isn't accessible from the film site.
 
This viral campaign is clearly intended to drive buzz by engaging a young male demographic. The cachet lies in a series of hidden codes which gain the user access to bigger, badder vee-hickels. However, it appears the top scores belong to the General Lee (the starter car), whereas the "Hints" section alludes to the secret codes unlocking a car that "might be able to jump farther." This doesn't quite make sense in terms of motivating a player to rack up codes and delve into the intrigue of Hazzard County; nonetheless, I wouldn't be surprised to see impressive time spent in the game, on average per user. The game is quick to gratify with an instant "feet jumped" count. It's hard to resist the challenge of a second and third try. It's a guilty pleasure. Even the scaled-back graphics hearken back to the '80s, while images of the talent remind us of the knockout cast. That said, this game is much more Luke than Daisy.
 
Whether particular vehicles display superior handling is unbeknownst to me, but the game is a winner.
-- Ktimene Gembol, manager, strategic alliances, Sony Pictures Digital