As soon as the “Loading” bar hit 100%, visitors to Vault5000.com were grabbed by the necks of their Dale Earnhart T-shirts and pulled into a virtual stock car racing world. And they weren’t disappointed. Film footage edited and sound-designed to mimic an action movie trailer set the stage. From there, 6 different pages unfolded to reveal interviews with our down-home drivers, biographies of the full field of competitors, a documentary on the effects of the race on the human body, and a detailed explanation of the rules and flags used to keep the wheels from coming off a 3-day 5,000-mile old school NASCAR race. The lines between reality and virtual reality were completely blurred. The lines between fun and more fun were completey erased. Visitors could hang out for 30 minutes immersed in Vault 5000 culture, and then forward links to their friends to help improve their lives, too.

According to Ad Age, Vault had its best year ever with $70 million in sales, reinforcing positive progress in chipping away at Mountain Dew’s uber-dominant market share. All for the price of a few print ads and a few very aggressive weeks of work. The Vault 5000 was a winner.