7-Eleven Gets Into March Madness With Sandwich Promos

DALLAS — 7-Eleven Inc. is taking aim at NCAA basketball fans with a series of March Madness TV spots that promote the convenience store chain's hot foodservice program.

The 15-second commercials began airing March 17 and feature 7-Eleven's new $1.99 chicken sandwich and its steak and cheese melt sandwich, reported AdAge.

The chain has also teamed up with Turner Sports and Twitter for a new partnership called March Madness Amplify. 7-Eleven is sponsoring some official in-game highlight tweets posted by @marchmadness and @BleacherReport as part of its social media campaign.

7-Eleven will also hold in-store sampling on March 18 and March 25, and give away free Melts on April 4, the day of the NCAA championship game.

The marketing spend for 7-Eleven's hot sandwiches is approximately twice as much as it spends on an average food campaign, although the company did not provide specific figures, according to the report.

Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises and licenses more than 10,700 7-Eleven stores in North America.