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[02/07/05 - 12:00 AM]
NBC's 'American Dreams,' Campbell Soup Company and Scholastic, Name Semi-Finalists as Part of Unique Partnership in Sponsoring National Teen Essay Contest for $100,000 Scholarship

[via press release from NBC]

NBC'S 'AMERICAN DREAMS,' CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY AND SCHOLASTIC, NAME SEMI-FINALISTS AS PART OF UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP IN SPONSORING NATIONAL TEEN ESSAY CONTEST FOR $100,000 SCHOLARSHIP

BURBANK, Calif. -- February 7, 2005 -- NBC's "American Dreams" (Sundays, 8-9 p.m. ET) -today announced the top-100 semi-finalists for its essay-writing contest that will yield a $100,000 college scholarship (among other prizes) as part of the drama series' unique corporate tie-in with Campbell's Tomato Soup and Scholastic.

These semi-finalists were selected from more than 43,000 entries received in the Campbell's Dreams essay-writing contest for high school students, launched in August, 2004. The contest was mirrored in a storyline of the third-year of NBC's "American Dreams" drama series and was promoted nationwide on Campbell's Tomato Soup cans in addition to being part of a Scholastic in-school educational program. The winning entries were judged by representatives from Scholastic, NBC and Campbell's.

The 100 semi-finalists (listed alphabetically by state) are: Jessie Craig from Fairbanks, Alaska; Tiffany Canning from Trussville, Alabama; Maria Boackle from Birmingham, Alabama; Krista Messer from North Little Rock, Arkansas; Sean Carroll from Bentonville, Arkansas; Thomas Cong from Mesa, Arizona; Michael Fan from Gilbert, Arizona; Evan Purcell from Bullhead City, Arizona; Yelena Shuster from San Francisco, California; Brian Van Vlymen from Simi Valley, California; Jordanna Geller from San Diego, California; Garrett Olson from Paramount, California; Azieb Ermias from San Pedro, California; Surya Kundu from San Jose, California; Ben Goode from El Dorado Hills, California; Kathy Lao from Stockton, California; Foram Bhatt from Canoga Park, California; Ethan Sanchez from Oakdale, California; Kyle Patterson from Yorba Linda, California; Nathan Adkisson from Cedaredge, Colorado; Cosette Davis from Colorado Springs, Colorado; Michelle Fares from Jacksonville, Florida; Lindsay Hebert from Clearwater, Florida; Austin Knipp from Plant City, Florida; Dan Dinh from Atlanta, Georgia; Verdell Walker from Cataula, Georgia; Rachel Thom from Martinez, Georgia; Sarah Hoff from Rocky Face, Georgia.

Emily Stott from Emmett, Idaho; Camron Hammond from Saint Anthony, Idaho; Brian Schuh from West Salem, Illinois; Brandon Weisenberger from West Salem, Illinois; Elizabeth Keating from Tinley Park, Illinois; Laura Bollin from Chicago, Illinois; Myah Gary from Carbondale, Illinois; Ashley Sewell from New Lenox, Illinois; Samantha Levy from Burr Ridge, Illinois; Lindsay Beeching from Demotte, Indiana; Emily Dominique Rice from Waterloo, Indiana; Sarah Pepper from Newburgh, Indiana; Matt Dye from Trenton, Kentucky; William Flatt, Jr. from Radcliff, Kentucky; Amanda Stoney from Lawrence, Massachusetts; Anthony Damiano from East Falmouth, Massachusetts; Padraig Shea from West Springfield, Massachusetts; Jeff Tseng from Silver Springs, Maryland; Anne Garboczi from Gaithersburg, Maryland; Michelle Johnson from Dimondale, Michigan; Sarah Winchel from Flat Rock, Michigan; Samir Sharma from Portage, Michigan; Katherine Visscher from Holland, Michigan; Ashton Kramer from Plymouth, Michigan; Orion Rhodes from Warrenton, Missouri; David Norton from Springfield, Missouri; Jessica Lin from Warren, New Jersey; Melissa Packowski from Wood Ridge, New Jersey; Matthew Van Orden from Morris Plains, New Jersey; Lisa Trimmer from Sea Girt, New Jersey; Joanne Cornell from Sayreville, New Jersey; Gabriel Sloyer from Lawrence, New York; Daniel Hymann from Bellmore, New York; Jessie Atkin from Rochester, New York; Mark Norsworthy from APO AE, New York.

Nathan Demarcus from Piqua, Ohio; Seth Mehok from Dennison, Ohio; Lynn Gehring from Hubbard, Ohio; Amanda Engelhart from Akron, Ohio; Patricia Williams from Tulsa, Oklahoma; Sarie Schoen from Central Point, Oregon; Kyle Wu from Beaverton, Oregon; Emanuel Costache from Milwaukie, Oregon; Gabriella Sacidor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Capri Mancino from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Tracey Gerlach from Beech Creek, Pennsylvania; Jessica Browning from Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Sean Traynor from Yardley, Pennsylvania; Daniel Webb from Harrisville, Rhode Island; Percy Xu from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina; Bethany Zimmerman from Rock Hill, South Carolina; Charlotte Buhler from Mitchell, South Dakota; Laura Clark from Eureka, South Dakota; Katherine Smalley from Hixson, Tennessee; Jessie Voss from Ooltewah, Tennessee; Chansin Elizabeth Bird from Granbury, Texas; Madelon Osborne from Menard, Texas; Cheyenne Pietsch from El Campo, Texas; Katie Turkiewicz from Temple, Texas; Teresa Brucker from Katy, Texas; Erin Welker from Garland, Texas; Alfred Anderson, Jr. from Arlington, Texas; Lindsay Knott from Humble, Texas; Cheng Qian from Sugar Land, Texas; Lindsay Wright from Chantilly, Virginia; Lindsay Carver from Yorktown, Virginia; Emily Timmer from University Place, Washington; Juan Vasquez from Bellevue, Washington; Jaida Temperly from Hazel Green, Wisconsin; Carol Simonson from De Pere, Wisconsin; Greta Koch from Berlin, Wisconsin; Rebecca Kitchens from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

The grand-prize winner will be announced on March 6, in that evening's episode of "American Dreams" on NBC (8-9 p.m. ET).

-To enter the contest -- which ran from August 15, 2004 through November 30, 2004 -- students were asked to write an essay answering the question, "How does your American Dream compare to that of your parents?" The contest was open to students ages 13-18 years-old in grades 9-12 across the country. In the parallel storyline, book-smart high-school student Patty Pryor (Sarah Ramos) also enrolled in a similar essay contest.

The cast of "American Dreams" also appeared in a 30-second spot to encourage student participation. The story thread will continue to weave through additional episodes during the season.

"This is a win-win all the way around," said John Miller, Chief Marketing Officer for NBC Universal Television Group. "Two terrific things have happened as a result of this campaign. First, we were able to very successfully cross promote brands with our popular NBC Sunday night series, 'American Dreams,' and both Campbell's Soup and Scholastic Magazine. Second, a very deserving student is going to walk away with a very rich scholarship to the college or university of his or her choice and several other prize winners will also be awarded scholarship money. It is an excellent example of partnering with other visionary companies for the benefit of everyone connected to this project. My deepest thanks to Campbell's Soup and Scholastic Magazine for pulling out all the stops and working with us on this campaign. I also extend my sincerest congratulations to everyone who entered the contest and especially to the semifinalists."

In addition to Campbell's Tomato Soup awarding a $100,000 college scholarship to the grand prize winner, that winner and a friend will also have walk-on roles that will enable them to participate in the "American Bandstand" scenes during a future episode. The winner's school will also receive 1,000,000 Campbell's Labels for EducationTM bonus certificates. Campbell will also award nine first-prize scholarships of $2,500 and 100,000 Labels for Education bonus certificates to the first-prize winners' schools.

To get students and teachers excited about the Campbell's contest, Scholastic Marketing Partners, a division of Scholastic, developed multi-faceted educational materials. Some of these included in-school and online curriculum for teachers, student magazines and magazine "advertorials" for students, which were distributed to more than 11 million teens in 65,000 high school classrooms nationwide.

The effort adds new meaning to enhanced interactive television and marks the first time that a television program was wedded to branded entertainment in such a partnership. The campaign included a cross-promotional effort that projected the creative storyline into real-time activity that allowed "American Dreams" viewers to both watch and participate. At the same time, teenagers around the country benefited from an in-school curriculum program that teaches the history of the period while promoting inter-generational dialogue.

"Our partnership with Campbell's and NBC has been a huge success ," said Steve Palm, Vice President of Scholastic Marketing Partners. "We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the contest from teachers and students nationwide, and received thousands of remarkable stories from students across the country. This program clearly illustrates the importance of building strong connections between parents, teachers and children in home and school environments."

Campbell's Tomato Soup also has promoted the contest in a variety of ways, including: placement on 42 million labels of its iconic can; print, radio and television advertising; and on a national, free-standing insert back in September 2004.

Dick Clark ("American Bandstand") and Jonathan Prince ("Wilder Days") are the executive producers. "American Dreams" is from NBC Universal Television.

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) is a global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality soup, sauces, beverage, biscuits, confectionery and prepared food products. The company is 135 years old, with nearly $7 billion in annual sales and a portfolio of more than 20 market-leading brands. For more information on the company, visit Campbell's website on the Internet at www.campbellsoup.com.

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's Internet site, www.scholastic.com.

The NBC Agency, founded in November 1999, is a multi award-winning advertising team that made "Must See TV" a household slogan and reinforced the term "appointment television" for NBC programming. It is a unique, full-service advertising agency servicing the advertising and promotional needs of all NBC-Universal owned entities, which include entertainment, news, sports and corporate divisions of NBC as well as the cable, Internet and syndicated properties and brands that the company owns or holds an equity interest in, such as CNBC, MSNBC and MSNBC.com, Bravo, USA, SCI FI, Trio, Telemundo and NBC-Universal Television Distribution.





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