Last week, Zynga entered the big leagues of video game marketing. To mark the launch of its Mafia Wars Las Vegas game, the company blew up a real armored car in the desert outside Las Vegas. It was an event worthy of Electronic Arts or Activision Blizzard, which have been known to do outrageous stunts in the name of marketing games.
Zynga says that more than 2 million viewers joined the live Ustream video of the event as Snoop Dog pulled the trigger that ignited the explosion of the 4-ton vehicle. In terms of live streamed events, the Zynga event was surpassed only by Ustream’s broadcast of Twilight: Eclipse in June.
The numbers rivaled prime-time TV viewership. Last Thursday, TV views of The Office and 30 Rock were 2 million households each. Zynga’s stunt was a bigger draw than Parks and Recreation (1.7 million households), Sportscenter (683,000 households) and Tosh.o (550,000 households). Zynga gave 631,000 users a free virtual armored truck in the game.
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