Coming Soon to Supermarkets: SpongeBob SquarePants Carrots and Spinach

Coming Soon to Supermarkets: SpongeBob SquarePants Carrots and Spinach

Nickelodeon Enters Multi-Year Licensing Agreement with Grimmway Farms, Inc., Boskovich Farms and LGS Specialty Sales to Introduce Packaged Fruits and Vegetables Featuring Popular Nickelodeon Characters

NEW YORK, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon, the number one entertainment brand for kids, has licensed several of its most popular TV characters -- including SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer -- to several fresh produce distributors that will begin introducing a wide range of fruits and vegetable packages featuring the Nickelodeon characters in supermarkets next month. The agreements are the latest initiative by Nickelodeon to encourage healthier diet and lifestyle choices for kids.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050713/NYW107)

Starting this Fall, Grimmway Farms, Inc. will produce 1.6 ounce single serving to five pound bags of baby cut and peeled carrots in packages featuring, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, and Sportacus and Stephanie from the hit Nick Jr. series LazyTown. Boskovich Farms will feature SpongeBob SquarePants on its bags of spinach. And, LGS Specialty Sales, distributors of oranges, tangerines and clementines, will feature SpongeBob, Dora, Blue's Clues and The Backyardigans characters on its bags of fruit. Upcoming deals also include using Nickelodeon characters on cartons of lowfat milk.

"Carrots are a wonderful snack and one of the most kid-friendly vegetables there are," said Phil Gruszka, Vice President of Marketing for Grimmway Farms. "Partnering with Nickelodeon by adding their popular characters to our packaging gives kids and parents another way to enjoy their favorite healthy snacks" he said, noting that more than 5 million bags of Nickelodeon carrots will be available nationwide at supermarkets including Safeway and Albertson's.

"Getting children to eat healthier has always been a struggle for parents, said Don Hobson, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Boskovich Farms. "SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the most recognizable and adored characters in touch with youth culture today. Partnering him with one of the healthiest vegetables in the supermarket will definitely appeal to both kids and their parents," he said.

"Nickelodeon recognizes the importance of health and wellness for kids and is proud of the efforts the network is making to encourage kids to eat right and make healthy food choices," said Sherice Torres, Vice President, Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products. "We're thrilled to be able to add to the fun of eating fruits and vegetables," she said.

Using its characters to entice kids to try healthy food alternatives is just one of the ways Nickelodeon is working to encourage healthy, balanced lifestyles for kids. Later this month, the network will unveil a series of new PSAs which focus on the importance of starting the day by eating a balanced breakfast. According to a research study -- Kids, Food and Eating Behaviors-- by Nickelodeon and Cogent Research, only 50% of kids in the U.S. eat breakfast everyday and only 39% of kids eat three meals per day on a daily basis.

On-air, the network has committed $20 million and 10% of its air to health and wellness messaging. Nick Jr. is currently airing its "Power Play Summer," including interstitial programming with themes like 'Love to Dance,' 'Love to Get Up and Go,' and 'Love to Move,' and incorporates the message to kids to 'Get Up, Get Out, and Go Play.' The regular preschool block programming also incorporates the Nick Jr. "Power Play Meter," an on-screen meter that measures the activity level of preschoolers at home to continuously encourage kids to keep the activity going while watching TV.

Nick News specials on nutritional literacy have also run on-air, along with a variety of health and wellness PSAs that were introduced last year. The network also employs healthy messaging in its Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. Family magazines, and its websites Nick.com and Nickjr.com.

Nickelodeon is currently in its third year of its award-winning pro-social initiative "Let's Just Play," and recently announced the second annual Worldwide Day of Play where the network will go dark on Oct. 1 to engage kids in healthy and fun activities. As part of its "Let's Just Play" campaign, the network awarded more than half-a-million dollars in grants to schools and after-school programs in 2004-2005 to help provide resources that will create and expand opportunities for physical play. Nick will give away an additional $1 million this year.

Nickelodeon, currently in its 26th 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 89 million households and has been the number- one-rated basic cable network for ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050713/NYW107 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN6 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Sara Stern Levin, +1-212-846-8670, Sara.levin@nick.com or Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, Joanna.roses@nick.com, both of Nickelodeon

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

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