Halloween Million Dollar Contest From Makers Of M&M’s, Mars Foods – Details At HalloweenMillion.com

Mars Foods are the makers of candies like  M&M’s, Milky Way, Snickers, Skittles, Starburst, Musketeers and Twix. Today they announced the launch of their Halloween Million Dollar contest. One lucky winner will be given the grand prize of one million dollars. McDonalds also has a similar one million dollar monopoly game contest that concludes on November 3 2008 (PlayatMCD.com). Mars Foods has launched the HalloweenMillion.com website as part of this new contest.

Mars Foods released more details about this contest in a press release issued today. Here are some details from that press release.

“Halloween is not just a one-night event, but a nine-week season of decorating, entertaining, trick-or-treating and Booing activities,” explains Michele Kessler, Vice President Marketing, Mars Snackfood US. “We’re adding more excitement to the season by introducing a contest and several new items that build on our Halloween staple brands such as M&M’S(R), SNICKERS(R), SKITTLES(R) and STARBURST(R).”

The Halloween Million Dollar Contest, an online sweepstakes based in a haunted mansion at HalloweenMillion.com, will “treat” one lucky person to a $1 million prize, and an instant win game will award 20,000 other prizes.

To take part in the sweepstakes, consumers visit HalloweenMillion.com, where they key in their birthdates to ensure they are at least 13 years of age. Next, the consumer enters a UPC code on participating products from M&M’S(R) brand, MILKY WAY(R) brand, SNICKERS(R) brand, SKITTLES(R) brand, STARBURST(R) brand, 3 MUSKETEERS(R) brand and TWIX(R) brand. The consumer automatically enters that brand’s “room” in the Million Dollar Mansion, such as the M&M’S(R) Ballroom, MILKY WAY(R) Observatory and SKITTLES(R) Gaming Parlor. Besides offering games, each room contains a “clickable” item which, when clicked, will reveal Instant Win Messages to lucky consumers. Prizes range from free product coupons to $1,000 M&M’S(R) branded VISA(R) debit cards, and all participants are entered in the sweepstakes for the $1 million grand prize.

The Million Dollar Mansion also includes an M&M’S(R) Racing Carriage House, which promotes the special Halloween paint scheme for the Kyle Busch No. 18 M&M’S(R) Toyota in the NASCAR(R) Sprint Cup Series race in Atlanta Oct. 26. The BrightIdeas.com kitchen in the Million Dollar Mansion features a recipe for spider cupcakes and a link to additional recipes for spooky snacks. BrightIdeas.com is an online destination that features recipes and crafts created with ingredients from Mars Snackfood, such as M&M’S(R) and SNICKERS(R).

The Halloween Million Dollar Contest is supported by an extensive advertising campaign, including television and print, as well as two national free-standing newspaper inserts. The humorous television commercial features the Headless Horseman with the Red and Yellow M&M’S(R) characters. The TV spot airs nationally October 6 to 31.