Mountain Dew launches branded casual mobile game

Has there ever been a good mobile advergame? The overwhelming majority have been poor.

What's more, there haven't been as many released since brands decided making equally bad Facebook games was the new big thing in viral marketing.

Still, that hasn't stopped Mountain Dew from commissioning a mobile game based on the Willy the Hillbilly character that appeared in its 1950s adverts, according to Brand Week.

However, it's not a downloadable game in the traditional sense. Instead, it's a branded widget that's part of the Zumobi platform for smartphones. If you've not seen it, that's the application that's based around a screen of icons leading to widgets, which users can choose and sort how they want.

Zumobi is pretty innovative, and will soon be preloaded on a number of Windows Mobile smartphones, boosting its userbase.

The game itself? Well, it involves sweeping away a bunch of thieves trying to steal Willy's Mountain Dew. You'll be pleased to know that the hero comes out with catchphrases like, "Yahooooo Mountain Dew," and, "Mountain Dew disappeared faster than my wife on laundry day," during the game.

You should probably draw your own conclusions from that. The widget was created by digital marketing agency Tribal DDB NY.

Could Zumobi provide opportunities for mobile game developers to get in on this advergaming action, or to offer their existing games as widgets? Time will tell.