14 DAY TRIAL // The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 27-23, but this is not stopping Microsoft from “hosting” its own Super Bowl, this time around with content featured during Sunday's game. The Redmond company is offering members of the Xbox LIVE community the chance to win a high-definition (HD) TV home theater system, but also an Xbox 360 Elite console along with a 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership. The Xbox LIVE Ad Showdown Sweepstakes debuted on February 2, 2009, will come to an end on February 8, and will feature a single grand prize.
“One Grand Prize available, a prize package consisting of the following items: a Panasonic 1080p Full-HD Plasma 58" panel (Approximate Retail Value (ARV), $3,600.00), a 5-disc DVD home theater system with speakers (ARV, $549.99); an Xbox 360 Elite Console (ARV, $399.99); a 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold subscription card (ARV, $49.95). The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of all prizes: $ 4,598.98,” Microsoft indicated.
All that Xbox LIVE members are required to do is cast votes for their favorite TV commercials during the game in order to be eligible for the grand prize. In this regard, extending the Ad Showdown from MSNBC to Xbox LIVE, the software giant made available over 35 TV advertisements on the Spotlight Channel on Xbox LIVE as of February 2. Users will be able to access streaming video commercials via the channel and vote.
“After the big football game on Sunday, we expect hundreds of thousands of people to jump on Xbox LIVE to play games, watch videos and interact with friends,” explained Shawn McMichael, director of Sales and Marketing for the Entertainment & Devices Advertising Business Group at Microsoft. “We know how important these commercials are to the game-day experience, so if you missed the game on Sunday, you’ll still have a chance to watch some of the ads later on Xbox LIVE and possibly win a new HDTV for next year’s game.”