September 2009 Archive

The following posts were made in September 2009. You may subscribe to the RSS feed for this archive if you would like to take your time reading through our posts.

Catalyst News

Rocco DiSpirito Dishes Up a New Challenge with the Ironman World Championship 70.3

Tampa, Fla., September 30, 2009 - Today, World Triathlon Corporation, owner and organizer of Ironman and Ironman 70.3 branded-events, announced that celebrated chef, and author Rocco DiSpirito, will participate in the fourth annual Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3, presented by Ford, taking place on Nov. 14, 2009 in Clearwater, Fla.

DiSpirito, 42, will join more than 1,500 athletes from around the globe to swim 1.2-miles, bike 56-miles and run 13.1-miles, all to be completed in under 7 1/2 hours.

"I am thrilled to have this opportunity to compete in the Ironman World Championship 70.3 event," said DiSpirito.  "I look forward to participating amongst some of the world's most talented athletes."

The accomplished chef and author not only stands out in the kitchen, but also as an athlete.  DiSpirito's triathlon experience consists of participating in a variety of events including the 2007 St Croix Ironman 70.3 and the 2007 Nautica Malibu Triathlon, presented by Toyota. 

The average Ironman triathlete spends 10 to 30-plus hours each week training for the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3. DiSpirito will be managing his training as well as his busy work schedule as a prominent chef.

DiSpirito has owned and operated Union Pacific in New York City's Gramercy Park and 22nd Street Restaurant, which was also home to NBC 's, "The Restaurant" in 2003.  In 1999, he went on to be named Food & Wine's Best New Chef and in 2000 Gourmet magazine deemed him "America's Most Exciting Young Chef."  DiSpirito is the author of five cookbooks, including Flavor, Rocco's Italian American, Rocco's Real Life Recipes and Rocco Gets Real: Cook At Home Everyday.  In March 2010, Rocco will publish his latest book entitled Now Eat This, which is focused on healthy makeovers of America's favorite comfort foods.

Rocco additionally created and starred in the A&E series "Rocco Gets Real," and has been a contributor on Rachel Ray, Good Morning America, The Today Show; a judge on Bravo's "Top Chef," frequent guest chef on NBC's "The Biggest Loser," as well as a competitor on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."  Rocco has been featured in articles in Fitness, GQ, The New York Times and People Magazine's Sexiest Man alive to name just a few.

For more information on the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3, please visit: http://ironman.com/worldchampionship70.3. 

All media-related inquiries can be directed to Blair LaHaye at 813-868-5929; Jessica Weidensall at 813-868-5914; Chris Ward at 312-235-3282 or Lisa Bruno at  212-714-7907.

About Ironman

World Triathlon Corporation, owner and organizer of Ironman and Ironman 70.3 branded-events, is a Florida-based company recognized for athletic excellence, performance and quality products. With the addition of the Ironman 70.3 Series, Ironman now has more than 60 qualifying events worldwide. Supported by partners that include Ford Motor Company, PowerBar, Timex and Gatorade, Ironman is the No.1 user-based sports brand in the world. Ironman has been a respected name in triathlon since its inception in 1978 and is regarded as the world's most challenging endurance event. Millions may remember moments in Ironman history such as Julie Moss' crawl to the finish line in 1982, which was showcased on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Each year, more than 150,000 athletes compete for slots in the Ford Ironman World Championship held every October in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 held every November in Clearwater, Fla.. The Ironman brand has been featured in a range of media outlets to include NBC, CNN Headline News, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, People, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and USA Today.

Tags: rocco dispirito , ironman , ironman world championship , 70.3 , foster grant , triathlon , chef , world triathlon corporation , wtc , ford , celebrity , catalyst public relations , catalyst pr , sports

Catalyst News

NASCAR and Two Dozen Official Brand Partners Team with Brookshire’s for Promotion Offering Fans Savings on Products and Tickets

More than 125 Brookshire Grocery locations to launch multi-faceted in-store program as sport's focus turns to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

September 30, 2009 (Daytona Beach, Fla.) - As race fans gear up for the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup - the sport's 10-race playoff shootout - shoppers at more than 125 Brookshire's Food & Pharmacy locations across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi can get close to the action with a wide range of in-store activities rewarding them with savings on products from official NASCAR partners, a valuable NASCAR Sprint Cup ticket offer, and the opportunity to win a trip the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion's Week in Las Vegas.

Beginning September 30, all Brookshire's locations, including its retail outlet at Texas Motor Speedway, will showcase special "Chase for the Savings" promotions featuring official NASCAR products from Coca Cola, Kraft, Unilever, Kellogg's, Proctor and Gamble and Mars.  Each store will host displays showcasing the featured products during the five weeks of the program, ending on Nov. 9. 

As part of the promotion, when they purchase $15.00 worth of participating products race at Brookshire's, fans can secure for $99 two front-stretch race tickets for the Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 8.

In addition, customers purchasing the official NASCAR products will have the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win a trip to Las Vegas for NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series Champions Week, where they will experience special VIP events and interact with NASCAR drivers and celebrity guests.  Brookshire's location store directors also have the opportunity to win NASCAR prizes by creatively utilizing the partner products in the "Store Director's Display Contest," a competition for the best store display.

"Brookshire's has always been a favorite shopping location for NASCAR fans across the south, and our new partnership with NASCAR will bring the thrill of racing closer than ever to our customers," said Brookshire's President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Rayford. "This program that NASCAR created will reward our customers with great prices, great prizes, a special race ticket offer and special NASCAR-themed displays throughout our stores."

"Among the many benefits of partnering with NASCAR is participating in exclusive, attention-capturing retail promotions such as this, covering the five weeks leading up one of our favorite races of the year at Texas Motor Speedway," said Ben Reiling, Director, Motorsports, Coca-Cola North America.. "Chase for the Savings enables Coca-Cola to refresh and reward all of the race fans who shop at Brookshire's at a time of year when tens of millions of fans are rooting for their driver to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship."

"By teaming up with Brookshire's, NASCAR partners are helping fans see live NASCAR racing at a crucial playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway and bringing to them the excitement of 'The Chase' in more than 125 stores through this in-store promotion," said Jim O'Connell, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for NASCAR.  "For the five weeks of the promotion, NASCAR official products will be the shining stars at Brookshire's."

In addition, NASCAR provided Brookshire's with consumer marketing support such as Chase-themed store materials and showcasing the promotion on NASCAR.COM.  The promotion will be featured in Brookshire's weekly circulars reaching nearly two million consumers and the store's Celebrate Cooking magazine.

Featured products include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Ritz Crackers, Oreo, Hellman's, Klondike, Ragu, Lipton, M&M's, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, Twix, Frosted Flakes, Yogos Bites, Pop-Tarts, Nutri-Grain, Gillette, Old Spice and Prilosec OTC.

Bulldawg Marketing of Mooresville, N.C. assisted NASCAR with developing this program for their official partners and Brookshire's.

More information about NASCAR Fans Chase for Savings can be found at www.Brookshires.com

About BGC

Since 1928, Brookshire Grocery Co. has operated on the principle of putting people first- customers and employees. Known for friendly service, clean stores and strong community support, BGC operates 156 stores in four states-Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi-with three distribution centers and seven manufacturing facilities. For more information, visit brookshires.com and super1foods.com.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports.  NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport - holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in 20 different languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.

NASCAR consists of three national stock car series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), the Grand American national series, four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series.  NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto. 

Tags: nascar , catalyst public relations , sports , brookshire grocery co. , bgc

Catalyst News

attention defenders: it’s not smart to lay a hand on tom brady this season

star quarterback has extra incentive to avoid being sacked in 2009: 'smartwater^® zero sack give back' benefiting Boston Centers for Youth & Families

whitestone, ny (september 14, 2009) - if opposing defenses have a charitable heart, they won't so much as touch quarterback tom brady this year. that's because brady has additional motivation to avoid the pass rush in 2009 - he's teamed with glacéau smartwater^® to create the "smartwater zero sack give back," an initiative that benefits Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) for each game he goes unsacked during the season. 

for every contest that brady finishes with a jersey that is clean and pure, like his favorite water, smartwater will contribute $5,000 to BCYF, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for boston's residents by supporting children, youth and families through a wide range of programs and services.  the donation, which will be up to $50,000, will go specifically towards promoting a healthy and active lifestyle-a meaningful cause to smartwater that the brand consistently champions through its philanthropic efforts.  at the end of the season, brady and smartwater will work with BCYF on the most impactful way to allocate the contribution, be it through, among other possibilities, educational classes, scholarships, new sports equipment or upgraded sports facilities.

brady has been a smartwater partner for years and has relied on the electrolyte-enhanced water to keep him well-hydrated on and off the field.  youth and families throughout boston are hopeful that with the help of smartwater's electrolytes and his offensive teammates, brady will be able to help them experience exciting new opportunities in 2010.

"it's always easier to throw touchdown passes from my feet than it is from my back, so i like to avoid getting sacked whenever possible," said brady. "but this year, in addition to helping the team, staying upright will help a great organization like BCYF.  pursuing an active and healthy lifestyle is a cause i feel strongly about, so i'm excited to partner with smartwater on this great program."

"football fans in boston are ready to see tom brady back in action, and now we have an extra reason to hope his teammates protect him on every snap," said mayor thomas m. menino.  "this initiative will greatly benefit children and families in our city."

in 2007, his last full season of play, in which he broke the all-time season touchdown record and was named professional football's most valuable player, brady finished with five "zero sack" games.  his team won all five of those contests.

about glacéau

it all started when one thirsty man named darius wanted better water but couldn't find any worth drinking -- so he decided to make his own.  word got around, thus emerged glacéau,  a fresh new approach to bottled water.  today, glacéau is a leader in the bottled water industry and the pioneer of the enhanced water category -- maker of vitaminwater®, #1 bottled water in the united states; smartwater®, #1 premium bottled water in the united states; and vitaminwater10^TM, the perfect low-calorie combination... only 10 calories per serving, naturally sweetened, great-tasting and packed with the vitamins and nutrients you need throughout the day.  glacéau is all about helping thirsty people like you responsibly hydrate with something truly good for your body.  for more information visit www.glaceau.com.

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Tags: smartwater , glaceau , catalyst public relations , tom brady , boston centers for youth & families , thomas menino , zero sack , vitaminwater , vitaminwater10