In a few nights, an estimated 1 million people are going to pack into New York’s Times Square for New Year’s Eve (brrr). And amidst all of the confetti, snow, and alcohol, they’re going to see a whole lot of ads, which is what Times Square does best. One of them represents a win for location-based mobile game SCVNGR: the service will be prominently featured on American Eagle’s Times Square billboard starting today and running through the new year.
To mark the occasion, American Eagle will be offering New Years-themed challenges on SCVNGR (for example, entering what your resolution is for 2011). For each challenge that’s completed, American Eagle will be donating $5 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America — and SCVNGR will be matching that donation. As people stand outside in the frigid cold waiting for the ball to drop, you can bet a good number of them are going to check out the app.
Getting a feeling of Déjà vu? That’s probably because Foursquare actually had a very prominent placement on the same Times Square billboard back in August, again as an American Eagle promotion.