You thought checking-in on Foursquare could only get you half off your morning latte or a free appetizer? 7-Eleven is upping the location services ante by offering a space flight as a grand prize in their latest promotion.
That’s right, the international chain of convenience stores has just announced a partnership with Space Adventures and the upcoming film Super 8 for their “Super 8 Check In To Space” contest.
The contest rules are pretty simple. Once players check-in to a 7-Eleven location on Foursquare, they will be directed via special offer to the promotional website where they will register for the instant win contest and the grand prize sweepstakes. You can play once per location every 3 hours, maximizing your chances to win. The contest runs from now until June 30th at midnight.
The way you win the instant win prizes is based on the specific check-in number. Over the course of the promotion, 21,464 people will receive the second prize of movie tickets to the upcoming J.J. Abrams directed, Spielberg produced sci-fi film Super 8. Every 88th check-in will get one of these.
Ten first prizes will be awarded. These are zero gravity flights provided by private space travel company Space Adventures. Basically you’ll go up in a Boeing 727 with “parabolic arcs” designed to create a weightless environment, and you’ll float around in zero-g. Sounds pretty fun. This is a nearly $5,000 package if you paid for it yourself. Every 88,888th check-in will win one of these flights.
The big daddy grand prize will be unlocked by the 888,888th check-in. On July 5th, a winner will be selected from all eligible entrants for a suborbital space flight, once again provided by Space Adventures. According to their website,
Ten times higher than the altitude reached by a commercial aircraft, and a third of the way to man’s only orbital outpost – the International Space Station. You are in space. No life can be sustained outside the cocooned environment of your spacecraft. The view is spectacular – you can see the curvature of the earth and see for hundreds of miles in any direction. Above you, the sky is no longer sky; it is space, and it is black. And getting there will be a thrill in itself.
Well that sure would be fun. That space trip would run you at least $102,000 if you decided to do it on your own.
As of right now, there have only been about 4400 check-ins logged, so there are still plenty of prizes to be handed out.
And just for fun, what do you guys think about the upcoming Super 8 movie? Looks like a little Cloverfield meets E.T. and Close Encounters if you ask me. Plus it has Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights in it, and he’s pretty awesome.
