Prilosec's Official Sponsor Social Media Campaign

Amid declining sales and the arrival of two new competitors in the OTC heartburn medicine category, P&G's Prilosec is ramping up its sponsorship efforts. However, it's not paying big rights fees in NASCAR and the NFL, which it has previously sponsored. It has created officialsponsor.com, which asks real people to submit their own sponsorship proposals about what they can achieve without heartburn.

Prilosec's new site reads:

It's true. Prilosec OTC broke the rules. We're glad we did. Sure, we're no stranger to the traditional brand-sponsorship road. We've teamed up with some big-time celebrities. It's a road that's led us to NASCAR®, to the NFL®, to big-stage music acts, and beyond. Ironically, once we learned all of the rules of brand sponsorship, we decided to break them.

Prilosec is counting on the campaign to maintain market share against two similar proton-pump inhibitor products recently approved by the FDA: Prevacid 24HR and Zegerid OTC.

"Our consumers tell us that frequent heartburn prevents them from doing a lot of the things they love to do," stated Robert Cleveland, Prilosec OTC brand manager. "Prilosec OTC provides powerful protection against frequent heartburn so our consumers can enjoy their passions, and these individualized sponsorships will help them take those passions to the next level."

Through February 22nd, applicants can upload their story in a variety of categories from sports to arts & crafts, for the opportunity to gain $1,000 sponsorships from Prilosec. Other users can vote on the users they feel are most sponsorship-worthy with the final decision being up to a panel of judges. Official sponsorships will be awarded in two rounds on March 19th and May 14th.