- Allison Shafir

NEW YORK Gamers who want to unlock special content for The Sims 3 and other Electronic Arts downloads will have to buy a Dr Pepper.
 
The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group signed an exclusive deal with EA to offer original downloadable content in exchange for codes placed on more than 500 million Dr Pepper products.
 
The multimillion-dollar advertising agreement kicks off with The Sims 3 and will continue across multiple titles throughout 2010.
 
"The first-of-its-kind partnership with EA will give Dr Pepper fans an unrivaled experience by adding exclusive value to their games such as new levels and items," said Tony Jacobs, vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper, in a statement. "EA is the only media company that could reach our target audience with the breadth and depth of titles for gamers on any gaming platform."

Steve Seabolt, vice president of global brand development for The Sims, said that he views the promotion as an "'opt-in value add' [that] will have our players thinking very kindly of the Dr Pepper brand."

EA's net revenue for fiscal 2009 was $4.2 billion when its 31 titles sold more than 1 million copies, per the company.


Nielsen Business Media