Let me start with the prizes, because I think they will really catch your attention: a gift card from Amazon or Circuit City, a new PC, a new mobile phone and... a BMW X5 SUV! All of these represent the prizes offered by security vendor McAfee for Triple Play Sweepstakes. Pretty impressive, don't you think? The main goal of this campaign is to promote online security, McAfee said in a public statement rolled out today. The sweepstakes will be closed on December 31, 2007 as it has already started on Saturday, December 8.

"The message of security is incredibly important during the holiday season when so many people go online -- often for the first time -- to shop and donate", said Bari Abdul, vice president of McAfee worldwide consumer marketing."To bring that message home, we've produced a series of entertaining videos that use the character of a quirky, malicious Santa impersonator to illustrate common holiday security threats like spyware, phishing, and identity theft".

The security company aims to deliver its message to the consumers through several videos and multimedia content ,which will be posted on popular websites, such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, McAfee added in the public statement.

"98% of the people we surveyed said up-to-date security software is important, but 75% of the computers we scanned for the survey were not properly protected. Sweepstakes and funny videos become a new, effective way for us to help consumers understand the importance of proper security", McAfee's official continued.

Obviously, there are several McAfee-powered prizes, such as free licenses for its security technologies and special prices for the software. The daily prizes include Toshiba laptops, HP iPAQ 510 Voice Messenger Phones and $25-$50 gift cards from the online shops mentioned above.

If you want to find more information about McAfee's campaign, check out this link.