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Dairy Queen(R) Debuts on 'The Apprentice'

Search Underway for DQ's First Blizzard(R) Apprentice

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, a company appearing on "The Apprentice," now in its fourth season, has created a national promotion to find a real-life apprentice.

Dairy Queen(R), which will have a featured episode focusing on its signature Blizzard(R) brand on "The Apprentice" Thursday, October 13, is taking that appearance to the next level by offering an apprenticeship that comes with a $50,000 cash signing bonus, an appearance in a national television commercial, trips to Hawaii and Los Angeles and a chance to help create new Blizzard(R) flavors.

"We tapped into a creative way to leverage our appearance on 'The Apprentice' with a really fun and exciting promotion that reaches out all across North America," said Michael Keller, chief brand officer for International Dairy Queen. "We're not the first to be on the show, but we are the first to tie in a promotion specifically built around the premise of the show. As a result, we are giving one lucky Blizzard customer out there the opportunity of a lifetime: to be our Blizzard apprentice."

Just like the television series, contestants for the Blizzard apprentice will vie for the title by completing a variety of tasks in the "Now Hiring! Become DQ's Blizzard Apprentice" contest, which can be found online beginning September 26, at http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/ . During round one, contestants must submit a 100-word essay describing their passion for the Blizzard and an accompanying photo of themselves interacting with the Blizzard brand. A panel of judges from Dairy Queen will choose 25 contestants to move on to the second task.

The second task requires contestants to produce a two-to-three minute video message about the Blizzard in the form of a television commercial, speech, rap, song or other performance art. The top five "odes" to the Blizzard, chosen by Dairy Queen, will be posted to http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/ along with each finalist's original essay and photo. Blizzard Fan Club members, now totaling about 600,000, will then vote for their favorite. The contestant with the most votes will become the first- ever Blizzard apprentice. The winner will be notified by November 4.

In addition to the $50,000 "signing bonus" and a year's worth of free Blizzards, the winner and three guests will travel to Los Angeles where the Blizzard apprentice will appear in a Dairy Queen Blizzard commercial airing nationally next year. In January, they will be honored at Dairy Queen's franchisee exposition in Hawaii. Finally, they will visit Dairy Queen headquarters in Minneapolis where the apprentice will participate in the development of new Blizzard flavors.

All 25 semi-finalists will receive free Blizzards for a year and each of the web-posted finalists also will receive a $1,000 cash prize. The contest is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents, excluding Quebec, 18 years of age and older. All legal guidelines and restrictions apply. For a full list of contest rules, visit http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/ .

As part of the promotion, Dairy Queen also will be featured in one of four online games in "The Apprentice" arcade collection. The Dairy Queen game is unique from the other three in that it will be an online flash game and available for free. The rest of the games, all developed by Legacy Interactive, are downloadable for a fee. Access to the Dairy Queen game will be via http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/ and top gaming sites available on Yahoo and AOL.

Dairy Queen's appearance on "The Apprentice" and the subsequent Blizzard apprentice contest culminates a yearlong 20th birthday celebration of the Blizzard. One of the most imitated ice cream innovations since the ice cream cone, the Blizzard Flavor Treat was introduced in 1985. More than 175 million Blizzards were sold in that first year. Today, the Blizzard is one of the most successful and widely recognized treats and is well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar brand.

For more information, visit http://www.dairyqueen.com/ .

About IDQ:

International Dairy Queen (IDQ), which is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., develops, licenses and services a system of more than 5,600 Dairy Queen(R) stores in the United States, Canada and other foreign countries, offering dairy desserts, hamburgers, hot dogs and beverages. IDQ is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family, a company owned by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Following the successful roll out of DQ Grill & Chill(R), Dairy Queen's quick-service food concept that features an all new expanded menu and newly designed restaurant interiors, Dairy Queen began testing the TreatWorks(TM) concept in August 2005. TreatWorks blends a sleek, new look with the feel of a traditional ice cream treat shop and offers an expanded treat menu that includes traditional DQ favorites, the Orange Julius(R) line of smoothies and fruit drinks, and new signature desserts and sundaes.

Source: International Dairy Queen

CONTACT: Chris Feeley, ext. 237, or Maria Pierson, ext. 222, both of Pierson Grant, +1-954-776-1999, for International Dairy Queen

Web site: http://www.dairyqueen.com/ http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/

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