Augmented reality is not something new, but not many companies have considered it in their marketing strategies. Cadbury and Blippar joined forces to bring AR-based games to chocolate lovers.
With the 2012 Olympic Games approaching, more and more companies based in the UK diversify their methods of attracting customers. The partnership between the British confectionery company Cadbury and Blippar is meant to make the chocolates more appealing. Now everyone who has chocolate wrappers and an iPhone or Android phone at hand can start playing augmented reality games, which is something not many of us would have thought of a while ago.
Once you launch the Blippar app on your iPhone, iPod Touch or Android-based smartphone and point the camera to the chocolate wrapper, the interface of the Qwak Smack will be launched. You are given the option to choose between spots and stripes. Given the name of the game, it is pretty obvious what the goal is. As soon as the noisy ducks emerge from the bar in the augmented overlay, you have to smack them (or in other words: tap gently, but rapidly on the screen of your smartphone, as you do no want to damage your phone in the process).
The game only lasts for 30 seconds, but it is still something enjoyable. After finishing the game, a score is displayed. If you want to, you can make your score public, in order to enter a draw for some prizes. In addition, you are free to compare your score to the ones of your friends. Competition can only be constructive in this case.
The Blippar app is available for free download both in the iTunes Store and on the Android Market. One thing to remember is that this app will be used for more than just Cadbury wrappers, depending on what partnerships Blippar rolls out in the future. Until then we can play the Cadbury games that are at our disposal. So… How many ducks can you smack? Since the ducks are animated, there will surely be no reaction from PETA, though.
If you liked this post, please check the AR Cinema app and the Toyota Augmented Reality touchscreen.
