Izze Sparkling Apple Hits the big Apple
Izze Beverage Co.,
Boulder, Colo., is giving consumers the chance to win a trip for two to New
York City for Fashion Week. Contest participants can collect Izze bottle
caps that spell out I-Z-Z-E for a chance to win. The grand prize includes a
$2,500 gift card to Saks Fifth Avenue and a personal shopper, three nights
at the Sheraton New York, dinner and wine at Tocqueville, backstage tour
and tickets to Mamma Mia!, a private yoga class at Jivamukti, and a tour of
the Gibson NYC Entertainment Relations Showroom. Ten first-prize winners
will win Apple iPods, and 100 second-prize winners will win Izze t-shirts.
The contest will run through the middle of August.
Ballpark revamp
Melitta USA, Clearwater, Fla., and the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays recently rededicated historic Oliver Field at Campbell Park in St.
Petersburg, Fla., following a seven-month refurbishment project. Oliver
Field is the home field of the St. Petersburg Reviving Baseball in the
Inner Cities League (RBI), a grassroots outreach program managed by Major
League Baseball. The program is designed to promote interest in baseball,
increase the self-esteem of disadvantaged children, and encourage kids to
stay in school.
The field renovation called for a major overhaul of
the 53-year-old Oliver Field and improvements to the park’s
facilities such as the installation of a new metal panel roof system, an
18-foot high chain link backstop, netting to protect spectators, painting,
new sod installation, irrigation repairs and a chain link fence to replace
the concrete wall that surrounded the field.
Expert bartenders
Southern Wine and Spirits of Illinois recently
celebrated the first graduating class of its new Academy of Spirits and
Fine Service. The inaugural graduates now rank among the top bartenders and
servers in the nation, the company says. By graduating from the program,
the students are eligible to join the United States Bartenders’ Guild
and can take part in worldwide competitions held annually by the
International Bartenders Association.
“More than anything
else, we want to raise the level of bartending professionalism to heights
never before seen in Chicago or the Midwest,” said SWSI’s
Master Mixologist Bridget Albert, who helped pioneer the Academy in
Illinois and is one of the top mixologists in the country. The Academy
provides attendees with the skills and information about alcohol beverages
in the United States and the world; detailed methods of preparing, mixing
and serving different beverage types; preparing
“Prohibition-era” classic cocktails and methods for creating
trendy new ones.
Happy Birthday, Penn
Penn Brewery, Pittsburgh, celebrates its 20th
anniversary this month with a “Brewery Birthday Bash.”
Festivities will include 12 hours of live music featuring three bands as
well as brewery tours for the public. Consumers then can sample a special
20th Anniversary Commemorative Brew and dine on German foods.
The 20-year anniversary also marks a significant
milestone for Penn Brewery which recently announced an expansion project
that will increase production by 100 percent. The brewery has added six new
beer tanks, and most of its support systems have also been upgraded.
Cool ringtones
Pepsi and Motorola have teamed up to offer more than
150 original cell phone ringtones by Grammy Award-winning artists and
producers. Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, The All-American Rejects and
producers Scott Storch and Luny Tunes are a few of the artists who have
produced new ringtones that will only be available through the Pepsi Cool
Tones & Motorola Phones promotion.
Through the promotion, one in three codes found under
the caps of the Pepsi products will be good for a ringtone at
pepsismash.com, powered by Yahoo! Each code automatically is entered into a
sweepstakes for a chance to win a Motorola RAZR, Motorola SLVR or Motorola
ROKR phone. More than 12,000 phones will be awarded during the promotion.
Pepsi will promote the project in a TV ad starring
Mariah Carey that will run through Aug. 6. In addition, Motorola and Pepsi
will take to the roads in the Motorola StudioMoto Mobile Tour, a 12-week
mobile music experience that will feature interactive displays to create
music, content and messages for mobile phones.
Big Red launches gaming site
Big Red, Waco, Texas, is turning to new media to
enhance the company’s image and reach new demographics. Targeting the
female and youth markets, the company has launched a summer promotion on
its own PC gaming Web site, bigredgames.com. Consumers can text message
“Big Red” on their cell phones to “44800.” After
answering a trivia question, they will receive a unique code via text
message and be directed to the Big Red Games Web site. Their unique code
will allow them to play games for free and win one of 300 downloadable
games, such as Diner Dash 2, Soduko Qwest and Bejeweled, from the site.
Celebrate with flavor
For Fiestas Patrias 2006 (Sept. 1 through Oct. 15),
Miller is highlighting the unique qualities of both the traditional dishes
and how Miller Lite is a compliment to the Hispanic consumers’
celebrations of their homelands. With the theme, “Celebrate with
Great Taste,” the POS revolves around making it known that Miller
Lite is crafted with care for maximum ?avor and enjoyment. To reinforce
this message, it has created a free take-one booklet that highlights Miller
products and the food by showcasing the dishes and offering enticing
consumer coupons (where legal).