Nickelodeon Partners With Produce for Kids(R) to Promote Healthy Lifestyles

Nickelodeon Partners With Produce for Kids(R) to Promote Healthy Lifestyles

Campaign to Rollout in Retailers Including Meijer, Publix Super Markets and Price Chopper this October

NEW YORK and REIDSVILLE, Ga., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- This fall, Nickelodeon, the number-one brand for kids, is partnering with Produce for Kids, an organization that seeks to educate kids on the benefits of healthy eating, to promote healthier lifestyles. The campaign, which begins this October and runs through November 5, will use promotional programs in produce departments around the country featuring Dora the Explorer and messaging surrounding the network's health and wellness campaign "Let's Just Play."

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061002/NYM032 )

Participating retailers include Meijer, which operates 176 Supercenters throughout the Midwest; Publix Super Markets, which currently operates 883 stores in the Southeastern part of the country; and Golub Corporation which owns and operates more than 100 Price Chopper grocery stores in the Northeastern part of the country. Retailers will provide support for the program through advertising in circulars.

"The Nickelodeon partnership with Produce for Kids allows us to expand the company's health and wellness resources on a local level in stores all over the country," said Jean Margaret Smith, senior vice president, Public Affairs for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. "It raises awareness about the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables when kids and families are actually making food choices in the supermarket. And it aligns with our commitment through the 'Let's Just Play' campaign to provide community resources and tools for kids to make healthy lifestyle choices."

"We are very excited to enter into this partnership with Nickelodeon," said John Shuman, president of Shuman Produce and founder of Produce for Kids. "With incredible retail partners and sponsors on-board, we believe the partnership with Nickelodeon, and its Dora the Explorer and 'Let's Just Play' brands, will strengthen the Produce for Kids program as we continue to boost the awareness of healthy eating with kids and parents nationwide."

Point-of-sale materials will be featured in produce sections that encourage kids to take their own personal steps towards living healthier lifestyles. Displays will feature Nick Jr.'s Dora the Explorer and "Let's Just Play" messaging encouraging kids to "Eat Smarter" and "Play Harder." Kids will also be encouraged to join the Produce for Kids' Healthy Kids Club as well as sign up for the Nickelodeon network's Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge, which empowers kids with the tools they need to live healthier lifestyles.

Point-of-sale materials include:
-- Floor stands (In Publix and Price Chopper stores) -- the floor stands
will be customized by retailer and will feature sponsor logos. Each
floor stand will include a brochure for kids and parents.
-- Brochures (In Publix and Price Chopper stores) -- these 10 page
brochures will feature information on Produce For Kids and the Let's
Just Play Go Healthy Challenge, as well as healthy recipes for kids and
parents and general health and wellness tips.
-- Posters (In Meijer stores)
-- Recipe booklets (At all participating retailers)
-- Shelf cards (In Meijer stores)

The campaign will also be cross promoted on Nickelodeon's Let's Just Play web site (http://www.nick.com/letsjustplay) and the Produce for Kids web site (http://www.produceforkids.org/). Both sites will encourage kids to sign up for the Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge and Produce for Kids' "Healthy Kids Club."

Produce for Kids' "Healthy Kids Club" provides kids with fun activities and nutritional tips that will aid them in choosing healthier food options. "Healthy Kids Club" members will be able to earn points and track their progress toward healthy living through an online scorecard at http://www.produceforkids.org/healthykids . The Grand Prize winner will receive a free bicycle and a $750 grant in their name for their school's athletic department or local Boys & Girls Club.

The Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge on Nickelodeon is an on-air and grassroots campaign which encourages real kids to make their lives, schools and communities healthier. To date, almost 150,000 kids have pledged to "Go Healthy." Kids can visit http://www.nick.com/letsjustplay to find out information on how to become an on-air Go Healthy Challenger in 2007.

The 2006 Produce for Kids and Nickelodeon campaign will also be sponsored by Chiquita(R) -- Healthy Fresh Cut Fruit Products; Country Fresh -- Cut Vegetables; DNE World Fruit -- Fresh Citrus; Custom Pak -- Tomatoes; Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. -- Packaged Salads; Michigan Apple Committee -- Apples; National Mango Board Mangos -- Mangos; Oppenheimer and Village Farms -- Tomatoes; Pacific Trellis -- Grapes; Shuman Produce Inc. -- REALSWEET(R) Brand Sweet Onions; Stemilt -- Apples and Pears; and Turbana -- Bananas.

About Produce for Kids

Produce for Kids was created by Shuman Produce Inc., growers of REALSWEET(R) brand Vidalia Onions, to educate children and parents on the healthy benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables while benefiting hospitalized children supported by the Children's Miracle Network.

Since its inception in 2002, Produce for Kids brings together the produce industry and supermarket retailers every Spring to raise funds for local affiliated Children's Miracle Network hospitals in participating retailer's markets. To date, Produce for Kids has raised over $725,000 for Children's Miracle Network hospitals. For the first time in 2006, Produce for Kids is featuring a Fall Campaign with the main focus on education in partnership with Nickelodeon.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon is currently in its fourth year of its award-winning pro-social initiative, "Let's Just Play." In November 2005, "Let's Just Play" entered into a partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to combat the spread of childhood obesity. The three organizations combined forces on a comprehensive media and public awareness campaign, encouraging young people to engage in healthy and active lifestyles. Nickelodeon is using its multimedia platforms and the "Let's Just Play" campaign, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and other partners, to reach millions of young people across the country and promote healthy lifestyles among kids and communities.

Nickelodeon has committed more than $30 million and 10% of its air to health and wellness messaging. Over the past 2 years, Nickelodeon has also awarded approximately $2 million in grants and through its "Let's Just Play Giveaway" to schools and after-school programs to help provide resources that will create and expand opportunities for physical play. For more information on Nickelodeon, visit http://www.nick.com/, http://www.nickjr.com/ or http://www.teachers.nick.com/.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061002/NYM032
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN2
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491, both of Nickelodeon; or Gary Caloroso, Sahlman Williams for
Produce for Kids, +1-813-251-4242, ext. 229

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://www.nickjr.com/
http://www.teachers.nick.com/
http://www.produceforkids.org/healthykids
http://www.nick.com/letsjustplay

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