Home Foursquare & 7-11 Offer Commercial Spaceflight as Contest Prize

Foursquare & 7-11 Offer Commercial Spaceflight as Contest Prize

Never mind NASA, I’ll slurpee myself to the moon.

You had to know it would come to this someday. No longer content to give away free iPads or earth-bound vacations, the social media world is about to shoot one of its own into space. (Presuming the Wuffie flows, that is.) Social network Foursquare has teamed with junkfood distributor 7-11 to offer a trip to suborbital space as a prize in an online contest. Who’s going to top that? While the US spaceflight program is getting its budget shut down, there’s something rather poetic about this opportunity.

As part of a promotional campaign for upcoming Steven Spielberg move Super 8 (which does get good reviews), the two companies are offering a variety of prizes to Foursquare users who check-in at a 7-11. “There are over 21,000 prizes,” Foursquare explains on its blog today, “Every 88th check-in wins free Super 8 movie tickets…every 88,888th check-in gets a free Zero-G Experience. And…if there are over 888,888 check-ins in June, one lucky winner goes to Space! Space!!!”

Foursquare’s Founding Mythology

The story goes like this…one day Dennis Crowley was jogging over a bridge in New York and stepped on a mushroom spray painted on the ground. “I should get a power-up for this,” he thought to himself. “And while I’m at it, I’d like to get a million kids to go to 7-11 and then shoot one of them to the moon!” Well, maybe not that second part. Those of us dorks who still admire Foursquare’s capacity to incentivize positive actions can go and get ourselves one of the company’s dorky looking Farmers Market badges created in conjunction with CNN. But no space flight for us!

NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock first used Foursquare to

check-in and record his presence in space

last October. Scientific researchers signed

the first contracts with private companies to be taken into space

this February.

The last US government space shuttle budgeted for (ever) is scheduled to launch a month from tomorrow. Perhaps novelty space flight in exchange for word-of-mouth online marketing to promote corporate non-nutrition was a better deal for society than taxes to fund exploration for the sake of public good, anyway.

Don’t worry kids, 7-11 will take care of your dreams of space exploration. If enough of you stop by, stock up on candy and soda, then tell your online friends about it. At least one in a million of you will be able to go to space – and heck, the rest of you can at least go to the movies.

It’s goofy enough that I feel like I need to go down to the corner store and get something to drink just to deal with it.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.