Kinect used to promote Chevrolet Volt

Microsoft has announced the first Kinect-specific advertising campaign in a new deal with American car maker Chevrolet, which will see the new Chevrolet Volt electric car featured in upcoming game Kinect Joy Ride.

The deal was unveiled at the 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and involves a standard video advertisement on the Xbox Live dashboard and on the Xbox website. After viewing the advert users are then able to unlock the Chevrolet Volt in the game.

"Kinect allows us to bring the excitement of the showroom to the living rooms of our customers. It’s a way for us to replicate the experience of physically engaging with a product that is essential to the customer’s purchasing decision," said Jim Campbell, US vice president of Chevrolet marketing.

The Kinect promotion is only one of several agreed between Microsoft and Chevrolet, with other initiatives involving the Windows Phone 7 and Bing. Additional advertising for the new car will make use of Microsoft's Pivot technology, part of Microsoft Silverlight.