The promotion above, which lets Call of Duty players "unlock in-game rewards and level up their game when they enter product codes from specially-marked products," is part of a new tsunami of online come-ons.
What's happening: "New privacy protections ... by tech giants and governments are threatening the flow of user data that companies rely on to target consumers with online ads," the Wall Street Journal reports.
"[F]rom brewers to fast-food chains, ... marketers are rushing to collect their own information on consumers, seeking to build millions of detailed customer profiles."
The tactics: "loyalty programs, sweepstakes, newsletters, quizzes, polls and QR codes."
Case in point: "In North America, most of PepsiCo's online ad targeting now uses its own customer data," instead of buying it from social-media giants, the Journal writes.
"Partly to expand its cache of data, PepsiCo has launched an online store for its Mountain Dew Game Fuel brand aimed at gamers."
The joint promotion above for PepsiCo's Mountain Dew and Doritos brands invites gamers to enter their first and last name, email address, mailing address and birthdate.
