Angry Birds and Super Bowl XLV

My background has more to do with marketing than sports. So naturally, I’ll be watching the Super Bowl for the commercials. That’s especially true with a recent update to Angry Birds. During the fourth-quarter of the Super Bowl, there will be a commercial for the movie Rio — an animated film from the creators of Ice Age. According to the 1.5.1 update, that commercial will have information to help unlock a secret level of Angry Birds. So while millions will be watching for the outcome of the Pittsburgh Steelers versus Green Bay Packers, I’ll be looking out for the level unlock information.

Here’s the official message…

Watch the Rio Movie Commercial during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl to find a hidden clue which unlocks a special level of Angry Birds!

I just got up to level 12-2, with collecting three stars on each of the previous levels, so I’m not even finished with the first 210 levels. That’s a lot of levels! The 1.5.1 update brings even more levels — 15 levels in Ham ‘Em High, plus the Super Bowl/Rio secret level.

I realize that the secret Angry Birds level will probably be disseminated the instant it is discovered, but this seems like a cool event. This is just another example of video games becoming more mainstream. It also is a focal point for so many different industries…

• Sports – The Super Bowl
• Movies – Rio
• Games  – Angry Birds

This also involves two competiting tech companies — Apple and Google. I checked out the Android Market. This is not an iOS exclusive. Apparently, the free Android version of Angry Birds also includes this update.

I wandered over to YouTube and the Rio Movie website to find out some more information. Apparently, Angry Birds Rio will be launched on March 2011. The movie itself is scheduled to launch on April 15. I’m not excited about either release. I don’t seem to be the intended target audience for Rio. As for another version of Angry Birds, what happened to Seasons? That iPhone / iPod touch game hasn’t been updated since Dec 10, 2010. Where’s Valentine’s Day, Saint Patrick’s Day, Ground Hog’s Day, Chinese New Year?

Lately, Angry Birds is feeling more and more about a money grab. With the Mighty Eagle in-app purchase, and the new icon for gifting the app on the level select screen, it feels like Rovio Mobile is trying to milk even more money out of their #1 success. I’m not so sure that this movie tie-in is such a good idea. Are they putting too many eggs in one basket?

• If the Super Bowl is a blowout, how many people will really stick around to watch the fourth-quarter?
• If the movie bombs at the box-office, it could tarnish the Angry Birds franchise.
• If Angry Birds Rio disappoints, it could tarnish the movie and the game.

The most obvious issue – Angry Birds Rio will compete with the original version of Angry Birds. Perhaps this is not such a great idea. Although, there must be a lot of money behind this plan. Super Bowl commercials aren’t cheap.