American Greetings' Strawberry Shortcake Helps Send Berry Sweet Messages to Local Charities for Valentine's Day

American Greetings' Strawberry Shortcake Helps Send Berry Sweet Messages to Local Charities for Valentine's Day

Feb. 5th Event at Wal-Mart Stores Nationwide Lets Kids Send Caring Notes to Local Organizations

BURBANK, Calif., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- American Greetings Corp. and DIC Entertainment, creator/owner and worldwide licensing agent, respectively, for the Strawberry Shortcake brand, join Wal-Mart to help kids give "a piece of their heart" this Valentine's Day by showing local charities they care. In a one-day promotional event to be held at more than 3,000 Wal-Mart locations nationwide, kids can send Valentine's Day messages of goodwill to be shared with others in the community. The event, featuring the berry popular girls' brand, Strawberry Shortcake, will take place on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005.

Kids are invited to visit the girls' department at Wal-Mart from 10 a.m. through 1 p.m. and write a Valentine's Day note on a Strawberry Shortcake sticker, which will be placed on a Strawberry Shortcake standee. After each standee is filled with stickers, it will be donated to a local charitable organization (to be determined in each market). Children writing messages will receive a Strawberry Shortcake coloring sheet and a Strawberry Shortcake bookmark (while supplies last).

Cindy Elfenbein, DIC's Executive Director, Retail Development, comments, "We are thrilled to team with Wal-Mart in an event that creates an opportunity for kids to participate in community outreach for Valentine's Day. Strawberry Shortcake is an ideal vehicle to reach young kids, and we're happy to share in an event that we hope will touch so many in each community."

About DIC Entertainment:

DIC Entertainment, a leading children's entertainment company, is a full-service studio dedicated to creating, developing, producing, distributing, marketing and merchandising family-based intellectual properties. DIC has distinguished itself by building one of the largest libraries of U.S. animation with more than 3,200 half-hours of renowned programming, including Trollz(TM), Inspector Gadget(TM), Strawberry Shortcake(TM), Sabrina(TM), Madeline(TM), Liberty's Kids(TM), Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?(TM), Sonic The Hedgehog(TM), Super Mario Bros(TM) and Care Bears(TM). In September 2003, DIC launched the DIC Kid's Network, a unique syndicated programming block designed to meet core FCC requirements and the only network for kids that reaches effectively 100% of U.S. households on over 450 stations, airing in every Designated Market Area across the country. As a pre-eminent supplier of kid's programming worldwide, DIC has developed strategic partnerships with key domestic and international broadcast partners throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. DIC is headquartered in Burbank, California with international offices in New York, Paris, London and Cologne.

About American Greetings Corporation:

American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of social expression products. Along with greeting cards, its product lines include gift wrap, party goods, candles, stationery, calendars, educational products, ornaments and electronic greetings. American Greetings is also the creator and owner of many celebrated character properties, including Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual net sales of approximately $2 billion.

About Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM'S CLUB locations in the United States. Internationally, the company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The company's securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting www.walmartfacts.com. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com.


Source: DIC Entertainment

CONTACT: Michelle Orsi of Three.Sixty Communications, +1-310-372-2309,
michelle@360-comm.com, for DIC Entertainment

Web site: http://www.walmartfacts.com/

Web site: http://www.walmart.com/


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