Nickelodeon, Calciyum: Get Up, Go Out, Go Play!

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Press release for immediate release
Images of Let’s Just Play 2007 attached

Nickelodeon With Anchor Calciyum Say Get Up, Go Out, Go Play!

Nickelodeon’s global Let’s Just Play initiative, supported in New Zealand with partner Anchor CalciYum, is back in 2008 to celebrate the fundamental joy of “play”. The incredible success of the 2007 Let’s Just Play initiative in New Zealand highlighted how receptive Kiwi kids can be to learning about how to live a healthy lifestyle.

The campaign commences this month as Nickelodeon NZ and Anchor CalciYum promote 101 Ways To Play on Nickelodeon (SKY Channel 41). From pillow fighting to tag, to teddy wrestling, there are heaps of ways for Kiwi kids to get their hearts pumping and muscles flexing, even when they’re just chilling out around the house. The vignettes will show a wide range of creative play activities to help motivate kids to make healthier choices about the way they spend their time. Nickelodeon’s online 101 Way’s to Play gives kids the lowdown on sports they might not have realised were sports, and are available to view at http://nicknz.co.nz

“As one of the nation’s favourite entertainment sources for Kiwi kids, we believe we are tackling children’s health and wellness head-on by advocating and embracing the basic benefits and joy of play. And we have to admit, we’ve certainly had a bit of heart thumping fun ourselves, coming up with creative ways to get active and burn up some energy”, says Chris Keely, General Manager for MTV Networks NZ.

Internationally Nickelodeon’s Let’s Just Play concept is an on-going success. Let’s Just Play is in its sixth year in the United States and in November 2005, Nickelodeon entered into a partnership with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation - an initiative between the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association - to combat the spread of childhood obesity. Over 200,000 children have registered in the Let’s Just Play campaign in the U.S. and more than 1,000 events are scheduled for their Day of Play initiative. Globally, an estimated 250,000 kids across 14 countries are expected to participate in Let's Just Play events throughout 2008, including Nickelodeon channels in Southeast Asia and Australia.

The New Zealand campaign doesn’t focus on obesity but instead on providing tools for health and wellness that resonate with all kids. Let’s Just Play is aimed at inspiring kids to make healthy choices in their lives and provide them with opportunities to play and become more active.

Anchor Calci Yum is thrilled to be involved with Nickelodeon for the second year running on the Let’s Just Play initiative says Brand Manger, Tania Kilpatrick, “At Anchor CalciYum we believe that developing children so that they can reach their full potential is the most important thing in life. Having a balanced lifestyle includes healthy eating habits and encouraging kids to get active which is why we believe in the principals of Lets Just Play and have partnered with Nickelodeon to bring Kiwi kids this engaging and exciting concept.”

Let’s Just Play will engage kids on a personal and relatable level, without preaching or lecturing them. It also strives to alleviate the pressures and expectations put on today’s youth when it comes to participation in organised sports and games. Play need not be organised, it can be as simple as a crazy dance on the spot or a run around in the backyard with a pet.

From 27 September Kiwi kids will have the change to submit their own imaginative game or play ideas in the MY WAY TO PLAY competition. By coming up with new and creative ways to play that involve some form of exercise but aren’t official or organised sports or activities, Nickelodeon and CalciYum hope to promote the essence of play to ALL kids no matter what their interests are.

Three winning MY WAY TO PLAY ideas will be chosen by the end of October and three lucky Kiwi kids will win an afternoon of play at their school with the Nickelodeon and CalciYum crews! The crews will host some awesome games and activities, including the CalciYum Challenge for the whole school to take part in with the winners receiving a CalciYum goodie bag. Plus there will be special visits from SpongeBob SquarePants, loads of CalciYum dairy snack and a re-enactment of the award winning entry game idea - all filmed by the Nick crew and played back on Nickelodeon (SKY Channel 41)! Not only that, the three individual winners will each win a Nintendo Wii just for themselves!

To find out more about MY WAY TO PLAY and enter your own creative game or play idea, simply visit http://www.nicknz.co.nz

ENDS

ABOUT NICKELODEON
Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year globally and second year locally in New Zealand, is the number one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. Nick NZ airs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is seen in over 700,000 households on SKY Channel 41. On-air, Nick NZ features a wide array of original and acquired programming from animation to comedy, adventure and live action programs for kids aged 3 to 14 years. Nick NZ also owns and operates one of the few dedicated interactive kids websites in New Zealand – http://nicknz.co.nz

ABOUT ANCHOR CALCIYUM
Anchor CalciYum is a part of the Fonterra Brands consumer portfolio. It is New Zealand's number one Dairy Food brand and provides a vital source of essential nutrients including calcium, protein, carbohydrates and Vitamin D, which helps kids achieve their recommended dietary intakes. It contains no artificial colours or flavours and carries the National Heart Foundations tick of approval. From the 15th September Anchor CalciYum will have a brand new look and 25% less sugar recipe with no artificial sweeteners. Kids don’t need to worry, it still has the same great taste, but with even better nutrition. By focusing our energy on continuing to have a deep understanding of consumers and world wide consumer trends and using this insight to develop new innovative and healthy dairy products, we will keep Anchor CalciYum as the first choice for New Zealand consumers.

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