The folks at GlaxoSmithKline must have seen the clever boxing parody/advergame by Dannon that we covered a few months ago... because they've created a similar game to support the Sensodyne Food Fear Challenge promotion.

For those of you who aren't up on your toiletries, Sensodyne is a toothpaste made for people with sensitive teeth. Apparently the Food Fear Challenge gives those with piercing jaw pain a chance to participate in eating contests with trigger foods, consult with an on-site dental professional and, of course, play in the Brett Favre football toss competition (no promotion is complete without a superfluous sports endorsement). The live events are almost over (sorry we're coming to this late), but if you live in Jackson, Mississippi, you can take part Oct 6-9.

At any rate, click on the little promo image on the right side of the Sensodyne Food Fear Challenge page to get to the game, aptly titled Food Fear Challenge. It's a boxing game, and you play as a tooth against one of three opponents, Killer Cup of Joe, Ice Cream Kelly, and The Citrus Squeeze. The game forces the player to choose one of eight (eight!) Sensodyne varieties as their "defense," but the screen seems to be there just as an excuse to list product features -- I couldn't tell that the products performed differently in the actual game.

Here's the kicker: it's a boxing game in which all you can do is block. No punching. I see where they were going with this: the idea was to embody the player as the Sensodyne-protected tooth, and the toothpaste prevents the opponent-food from inflicting pain. But... I'm just not sure it says anything meaningful about the product. A better strategy would have been to depict the features of the different products, but I doubt there's really that much difference between them. Alternately, perhaps the game could have at least introduced the player to more foods that commonly cause sensitivity -- aren't everyone's teeth sensitive to extreme hot and cold?

(thanks to Nico)