Students create Super Bowl ad for Chevy

Promo Magazine reports that a new Chevrolet promotion is asking students in advertising, marketing, design and film programs at 340 universities and colleges across the USA to enter The Chevy Super Bowl College Ad Challenge.

Teams of up to three students will knock heads together to develop an idea for a 30-second spot promoting Chevrolet's Aveo, Cobalt, HHR and Equinox brands. Students register for the contest at edventurepartners.com/chevysb by Sept. 22. They must submit their ideas, which includes a script and storyboard and a graphical depiction of the ad, online by Oct. 13.

Chevy executives and the automaker's ad agency Campbell-Ewald, Warren, MI, will judge submissions this fall. Five finalist teams will be selected and sent on an all-expense paid trip to Detroit to present their concepts in person to the executives. The winning team will have the chance to be part of the ad production process and watch as their idea gets developed, produced and then aired during the big game on Feb. 4, 2007 on CBS.

"This project is specifically going after the youth market to generate awareness on the market level of our new vehicles," said Steve McGuire, manager Chevy car advertising.

Since the cars and crossovers are particularly suited to the younger buyer's lifestyle and taste, contestants will design ads targeting the youth market, the automaker said. The ads will air once during the Super Bowl broadcast.

"We're excited about getting in front of a youth audience with a great product," McGuire said. "It's an inconceivable opportunity for college students to have on their resume that they've created a Super Bowl ad."

There is also a blog for students who are interested in the project to interact with each other.

If they really wanted to generate awareness maybe they should also throw in a free car as the cherry on top.