Larry Pryg says he used to watch Saturday Night Live "religiously" in his college days. So he knows first-hand about the show's nostalgic appeal. 

As assistant brand manager, marketing, for Detroit-based Oldsmobile's Intrigue, Pryg and his colleagues were looking to build brand awareness among "guys in their 30s and 40s who make $60,000 to $80,000 a year," he says. In other words, the kind of guys who used to watch Saturday Night Live in their dorm rooms. 

During the 1999 upfront media-buying season, Oldsmobile parent General Motors purchased category exclusivity for NBC's Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary, a live prime-time event airing in late September - right before Olds would unveil the Intrigue 2000. 

"It really came in as a media-only opportunity," says Kristina Lutz, assistant media director for Starcom Worldwide, Chicago, which handled. "We immediately jumped on it and made a bigger package out of it. The timing was great." Although the initial idea called for a local promotion in the New York City area, discussions with an extremely supportive NBC allowed for a national effort. 

Given less than two months to plan and execute, Starcom, sister ad agency Leo Burnett USA, and GM Mediaworks (the auto maker's in-house agency), worked with NBC to develop a sweepstakes-based program to generate awareness and qualified leads. Intrigue became presenting sponsor of the special, and the campaign took on an "Intrigue Behind SNL" theme. 

TV spots featured classic vignettes from the show and directed viewers to visit snl25.com to enter the sweeps, which dangled a car and atrip to New York City for a behind-the-scenes visit to SNL. Entrants were required to name the "most intriguing" moment from the show's history, and were also asked if they would like to receive more information about Intrigue. 

Oldsmobile and NBC worked together from late August until the air date to promote the show on-air and in print publications. The network provided a bonus promotional schedule on its New York affiliate, and Olds plastered Manhattan with 10,000 posters touting the sweeps and the special. The auto maker also incented Northeast dealers with tickets to an SNL dress rehearsal. 

During the broadcast, Olds ran spots with a toll-free number for viewers to call in their "Most Intriguing SNL Moment." Leo Burnett's p.r. unit later tabulated the results and issued a press release listing the 25 highest vote-getters. 

An estimated 36 million viewers watched at least a portion of the show, which delivered the highest rating for a network entertainment special since the Academy Awards in March. 

The sweeps garnered more than 45,000 entries and generated 36,308 leads for Intrigue, a total that more than doubled the program's 15,000-lead goal. More than 85 percent of Web entries requested more information about the car, and 37 percent said they planned on purchasing a new auto over the next 12 months. 

"It truly was an integrated effort," says Tom Weeks, program supervisor for Starcom Entertainment. "We got great support from NBC." "We had a celebration the night of the show because it was such a huge collaborative effort," adds John Buehler, vp-account director at Leo Burnett. 

"It was all about getting people to raise their hands and request information," says Pryg. "We exceeded all of our expectations, and now we can follow up on e-mail." 

For the record, Pryg's favorite moment was the "Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger" skit from SNL's early days. "Although the James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub was pretty funny, too," he adds.