SEGA of America: The SEGA Spud Dive

SEGA of America had no product on the shelves heading into the crowded 1998 holiday season. Their 32-bit game console, SEGA Saturn, had not been successful and was phased out in early 1998. SEGA was concentrating its efforts on generating excitement for their new game console, SEGA Dreamcast, which would launch in the U.S. on 9-9-99.

Industry experts were predicting that the '98 holiday buying season would be the biggest yet for the $6.3 billion videogame industry. SEGA was running a distant third behind competitors Sony and Nintendo, both of whom had plenty of new software hitting the shelves that would ultimately generate holiday coverage. SEGA did not want to be forgotten by media and needed to send the message that there was something on the horizon that would be big in 1999 — the launch of SEGA Dreamcast.

To combat these challenges, Access recommended the "SEGA Spud Dive." Held on the Monday prior to Thanksgiving, the Spud Dive offered a wacky visual for Thanksgiving that could be a great lead in or close to news programs that entire week. At the Spud Dive, contestants dove into 2,000 gallons of mashed potatoes to dig out wooden letters that spelled "Dreamcast." Wooden letters were created to ensure that media would have to mention either SEGA or Dreamcast when covering the event, to explain why these "fanatical" consumers would participate in such a stunt. The first prize winner would receive the first-off-the-line U.S. SEGA Dreamcast system when it was produced; other contestants won cash and consolation prizes. Access Communications created the contest to send the message that people would do anything to win a SEGA Dreamcast. This message leveraged the strength of the SEGA brand name and built anticipation for the system.