Starburst promotes new GummiBurst candy with cross-country van tour

MCLEAN, Va. Starburst will be traveling to colleges and universities around the country in order to promote its new GummiBurst brand. Beginning this week and ending in December, a GummiBurst Garage Band van will arrive at campuses and invite students to play Microsoft Xbox’s popular Garage Band game on the van’s stage. They will be displayed on four large plasma screens and will be given faux concert GummiBurst T-shirts.

“We know our target audience is interested in music and gaming, so we’re really trying to tap into those interests to generate a buzz about the new product,” said Kim DeMartino, managing director of Catapult Marketing, which created the idea of the tour and is executing it.

The candy brand plans to distribute almost 600,000 free samples of its new sweet on the cross-country tour. The visits will be preceded by a poster campaign, so students can anticipate the van’s arrival.

The van’s trip begins in Boston and ends in Charlotte, N.C., in December. The cities visited in the tour include New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Antonio, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego.