BlackBerry off-roading with "RV"

By Chris Marlowe Fri Apr 21, 1:18 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The BlackBerry is not just for business anymore. Columbia Pictures is offering a free game playable on Research in Motion's iconic device as part of the promotion for "RV," the Robin Williams vehicle pulling into theaters April 28.
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The idea for "RV Pile-Up" came out of discussions about Williams' character, Bob Munro, who obsesses about staying connected to work even while he has persuaded his family to give up their Hawaiian vacation in favor of motoring cross-country. As events unfold, he discovers the greater importance of staying connected with his loved ones.

Digital devices are an important part of the family's lives, ranging from the hand-held GPS they use for navigation to music players to the BlackBerry the patriarch secretly uses to pursue his career while supposedly taking a break.

"We looked at what this movie was about, what the themes in the movie were, at the audience we were targeting and at the available digital devices," said Dwight Caines, executive VP worldwide digital marketing at Columbia TriStar Marketing Group. "We wanted to carry those concepts through our digital marketing campaign, so we thought of a BlackBerry game -- and then we looked at how to make it happen."

The idea fit well in other ways as well, he added. The approximately 5 million BlackBerry users are mostly in the right age group to be parents. The gender gap is narrower than for many digital devices, so the game likely was to reach women -- the predominant players of casual games. Additionally, the "RV" icon remains visible on the device where it can be seen every time users check their e-mail, adding to its promotional value even when people aren't playing the game or showing it to their friends.

"RV Pile-Up" was developed by Regard Solutions Corp. and requires players to guide their RV through various levels, avoiding obstacles and collecting traffic signs. It is available on RV-PileUp.com or via the movie's official Web site for BlackBerry 7200 Series, 7500 Series, 7700 Series, 7100 Series and 8700 Series in six languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Source: Reuters/Yahoo!