Turkish Airlines Flies Teenage Oscar® Nominees from Streets of Kabul to Red Carpet

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 Turkish Airlines, has donated airline tickets for two boys that starred in the academy award nominated film, "Buzkashi Boys.” “Buzkashi Boys" is the story of two best friends who realize their dreams while playing Afghanistan’s version of polo (Buzkashi) amongst the turmoil that surrounds the country. The film was nominated for Best Live Action Short, and the film’s star, Fawad Mohammadi became eligible for a ticket to the Academy Awards, but not his co-star, Jawanmardi Piaz.                                      

A fundraising campaign soon followed, which garnered much attention. The goal was to raise $10,000 so that both stars would be able to fly out to Los Angeles to attend the Academy Awards. Turkish Airlines’ Los Angeles office executives were impressed by the story, and covered plane tickets for both boys and a chaperone. At the time of Turkish airlines involvement, the fundraising campaign had already come close to reaching its ten thousand dollar goal. The donations will allow the boys to set aside the funds that they already raised and put them into a college fund and for Piaz’s ticket to the Academy Awards

Link to Press Release                                                                       

McKinney Reinvents Beer Sampling with "Beercade"

McKinney, an advertising agency located in North Carolina, invented a beer-dispensing arcade game for its Raleigh-based client, Big Boss Brewing Company, in an effort to help the brewery standout from competitors at beer festivals.  

The arcade game, tagged “Beercade,” allows two players to participate in three rounds of animated bar fights. The best player out of three rounds wins and a sample of beer automatically dispenses into their beer mug.

This idea came to fruition as a result of an initiative undertaken by McKinney titled the McKinney Ten Percent. This project allows employees to devote part of their workday to personal, entrepreneurial pursuits, separate from client responsibilities. 

For more information, click here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

     It’s the day where everything turns into red hearts and the feeling of love is spread throughout the world. People exchange gifts, restaurants are packed with couples sharing wine, and flowers shops can’t stock enough long stem roses. But wait, you’ve been so busy working; you completely forgot to plan something special for your Valentine? No worries, Slidely has come to the rescue and it only takes a Facebook account and 5 minutes to create a one of a kind gift.

     On February 14 coincidently, Valentine’s Day, Slidelyreleased a press release to promote their Facebook app just in time for those Valentine’s Day Procrastinators. Let’s get to the details:

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Who: Slidely

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What: One-Click Facebook app that creates a slideshow video of your photos

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When: It’s an on-going app, but the press release is focused on Valentine’s Day

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Where: Facebook

Slide.ly Press Release

Sports Illustrated Launches Swimsuit Issue on Multiple Platforms

For its annual swimsuit edition of the magazine, in 2013 Sports Illustrated has chosen an extremely interactive approach to garner coverage for its famous spread. By hosting multiple live events across the country, social media tactics on a variety of platforms, cable broadcast spots, video footage and more, Sports Illustrated plans to reach more men between the ages of 18 to 34 than the Super Bowl does. This year’s magazine was shot on all seven continents and features 20-year-old Kate Upton as cover girl for the second year in a row.  The issue will be accessible in print, via tablet, mobile apps and desktop. 

"McDonald's Introduces A New Catch With The Launch Of Fish McBites"

McDonald’s is celebrating its 50^th anniversary of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich with its newest menu item, Fish McBites. The Fish McBites are wild-caught Alaska Pollok from a sustainable fishery. McDonald’s announced in January that it would be the first national restaurant to adopt the Marine Stewardship Council’s blue ecolabel. The Fish McBites Happy Meal also meets nutrition criteria set out by the Council for Better Business Bureaus Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative when the fish is combined with healthier drink options. This press release mainly focuses on the product launch in Philadelphia including an event where the McCafe Mom’s Club bloggers and their families will play fish-themed games and sample the new menu item. There’s also a special Twitter handle and hashtag that customers can use to talk about the product and pose with their best fish face. The winners get a free snack size Fish McBites.  
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mcdonalds-introduces-a-new-catch-with-the-launch-of-fish-mcbites-190987401.html

Which Foods Make Americans Ill? Whether Chicken Or Salad, Food Safety At Home Is Key To Avoiding Illness, Says Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Jesse M. Switzer

JOUR 536 – Digital, Social and Mass Media Public Relations

Media Deconstruct #1: Home Food Safety

01.30.13

            The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), as part of its Home Food Safety program has distributed a press release to PR Newswire to alert the media that a study investigating the cause of food poisoning cases in the U.S. was recently published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The Home Food Safety program – a collaboration between AND and the publically held company, ConAgra Foods – promotes the idea that safe food handling is more important to American’s diets than even what foods they choose to eat.  AND claims that the findings of the CDC study support this notion and points to the fact that “healthy” options such as salad greens actually caused the most food related illnesses in the country while meat, specifically contaminated poultry, resulted in the most deaths.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/which-foods-make-americans-ill-whether-chicken-or-salad-food-safety-at-home-is-key-to-avoiding-illness-says-academy-of-nutrition-and-dietetics-189247481.html

http://news.yahoo.com/foods-americans-ill-whether-chicken-salad-food-safety-201400998.html

http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/01/31/4585135/which-foods-make-americans-ill.html