United Media Licensing - June 2010

PEANUTS CELEBRATES ITS DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY

Numerous events commemorating the 60th anniversary of PEANUTS continue to be held across the globe as the popular brand celebrates this momentous year. In the U.S., all nine Cedar Point locations will celebrate with themed parties at each park. Major League Baseball teams including the San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians are also on board and will host 60th anniversary days with various activities including bobblehead giveaways and other PEANUTS themed activities. Hallmark, the exclusive destination for PEANUTS 60th anniversary product such as plush, giftware and Keepsakes ornaments, will feature PEANUTS front of store throughout the year.

FANCY NANCY MAKES EVERY DAY BEAUTIFUL AND OH, SO SWEET!

The latest Fancy Nancy hardcover book, Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day will hit stores on June 22, 2010. Over 15 Fancy Nancy titles were placed on the Publishers Weekly Children's Bestsellers list for 2009. Meanwhile, New England Confectionery Company will be the first company to produce a line of candies based on Fancy Nancy. The Fancy Nancy Sweathearts ® candies, which will debut for Holiday 2010 and Valentine's Day 2011, will be sold in mass market, food, drug and convenience stores. Another recent partner who joins the stupendous list of licensees is Department 56 for Fancy Nancy gifts and collectible figurines.

DILBERT GETS HIS GAME ON

This season, CBS Interactive, the online home to the NCAA March Madness tournament, featured Dilbert on its "Boss Button" which allowed viewers in the office to pull up a fake PowerPoint presentation when they heard unwanted footsteps (i.e. a boss) coming in their direction. Scott Adams drew a custom strip for the application and a "Work Flow Diagram – Wally Version" to add to the fun. It was clicked 3.94 million times over the course of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, surpassing last year's numbers. In other news, a new feature recently launched on the Dilbert Store, enabling users to directly license Dilbert strips for usage in corporate presentations, newsletters, magazines, and marketing materials.

PEANUTS STRENGHTENS ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH LI & FUNG

Women's and kid's apparel partner Li & Fung is expanding its PEANUTS line into men's, giving families a chance to share their love of the popular brand together. The new men's product will begin shipping in Q4.

HALLMARK'S HOOPS&YOYO AND RAINBOW BRITE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

hoops&yoyo will continue to provide humorous seasonal tips for Hallmark Channel's Movie Night in 2010! The dynamic little pink kitty and green bunny duo hosted a movie night on Mother's Day weekend. Additional movie nights are planned for Father's Day, Halloween, and Christmas! Also a star, classic Rainbow Brite will be included in Target's See Spot Save program this summer, which will feature stationery items and socks.

RAGGEDY ANN AND ANDY WENDY'S PROMOTION AND 95TH ANNIVERSARY SUMMER CELEBRATION

Raggedy Ann and Andy have been chosen to re-launch Wendy's under three kid's program with a board book promotion in US and Canada locations from May 24 through August 8. The promotion will be supported with signage, online and in-store. Also this summer, in celebration of Raggedy Ann's 95th Anniversary in 2010, The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York will host a two-month Raggedy Ann Birthday celebration (July 9 – September 7), featuring daily events, giveaways and an expansive permanent exhibit of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and memorabilia. The celebration will coincide with a digital birthday scrapbook at www.museumofplay.org/raggedy-ann/scrapbook, where Raggedy Ann fans will be invited to create their own scrapbook pages, post stories, share memories and upload photos. After September 7, all registered users will be entered into a drawing, and five participants selected at random will receive a commemorative 95th Birthday Raggedy Ann doll.

GOODNIGHT MOON HITS THE GROUND RUNNING

Goodnight Moon's first ever licensing program is off to a successful start. The initial wave of licensees to support the launch of the brand are on board. Look for recordable books, book plus (book, plush, blanket combo), fabric by the yard and quilting kits, as well as a national television commercial featuring the beloved classic in the not so distant future.

POPTROPICA MAKES A SPLASH

Poptropica, the fastest growing online virtual world for kids and one of United Media's newest properties, has begun signing up licensees within core categories, including handheld gaming and apparel. The website also continues to expand with the launch of new areas or virtual "islands." The latest island, "Mythology Island," has had a record number of log in users. Every month, over seven million kids explore Poptropica.com.

ART BASED BRANDS FOR UNITED MEDIA DRAW A BRIGHT PICTURE

United Media's recent partnership with long-term apparel licensee, Changes, to represent a new, art-inspired t-shirt program, Pet Project, is off to a great start. Sales for Pet Project continue to be strong with t-shirts and hoodies expanding into increased channels of distribution. New licensee, Mad Dog, has been signed for hosiery (men, women, juniors, boys, and girls). Licensing deals for bags, backpacks, wallets, coin purses, as well as sleepwear, loungewear, and underwear are underway. United Media's other latest art based brand, Ed Emberley, well known for his "How to Draw" children's book series, has a new anthology titled, Emberley Galaxy: A Tribute to Ed Emberley featuring 60 pages of comics and drawings based on Ed Emberley's fantastic series of drawing books. The brand will hit Licensing Show with a new visual identity including a logo and branding.

DEADLIEST CATCH CONTINUES TO CAPTURE COLOSSAL RATINGS

Season six of Deadliest Catch premiered on April 13, 2010 and was the highest-rated episode in series history among most key demos P/M25-54, P18-49, P18+, P/M/W35-54, reaching a total of 4.6 million viewers. The season six premiere drew more viewers than ABC's Dancing with the Stars, CBS's NCIS and NBC's The Biggest Loser among key demos.

THE UK GETS IN ON THE IRON CHEF HEAT

Iron Chef UK, a British cooking show based on the original Iron Chef and Iron Chef America, premiered in April on UK Channel 4 to over one million viewers. In this version, the Iron Chefs are some of the UK's top culinary masters: Tom Aikens, Martin Blunos, Sanjay Dwivedi and Judy Joo. Over the course of five days, the Iron Chefs battle the challengers and the winner is determined by a panel of food experts. At the end of the week, the top contender goes head to head with the best Iron Chef and collects £1,000 if he or she wins the cook off.

BABYMOUSE GETS STICKER BOOKS AND MORE

Babymouse, the critically acclaimed children's book series from creators Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, just signed a new deal with Running Press to release Babymouse products including a sticker book, a letter writing kit and a poster book starting in fall 2011. Random House's Babymouse graphic novels have sold in excess of 1 million copies.

SNOOPY GIVES BACK WITH THE LOVE FOUNDATION

April brought the launch of a new charitable endeavor for Snoopy in Beijing focusing on the welfare of children and the elderly population throughout China. The kick-off event was held on the 21st at the Great Hall of the People with Jeannie Schulz in attendance. Snoopy was anointed as the ambassador to the foundation, whose first donation was to supply desks for schools in the Qinghai earthquake region.

CHARLIE BROWN CAFES EXPAND IN KOREA

Also in Asia, a fourth Charlie Brown Café recently opened in Korea, with a fifth coming soon. That makes three cafes in Seoul and two in Busan, all centered in downtown and major university areas.

PEANUTS FLIES TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH CONDOR AIRLINES

Germany will celebrate the 60th anniversary of PEANUTS with a promotion with Condor Airlines. The promotion will feature PEANUTS on the entire fleet of 34 planes along with PEANUTS in-flight entertainment, a Snoopy Kids Menu, and PEANUTS coloring books. Numerous events are being planned throughout the year.

C.C. LEMON SOFT DRINK FEATURES WOODSTOCK IN JAPAN

C.C. Lemon, Suntory's popular lemon-flavored soft drink in Japan, recently launched a new promotional campaign featuring Woodstock. The campaign offers collectible Woodstock magnets and charms on bottles available at GMS and convenience retailers throughout Japan. Customers can also access special Woodstock mobile phone content by using special codes provided on the packaging.

PEANUTS GETS NEW DIRECT-TO-RETAIL PARTNER WITH EDOARDOS CALIFORNIA IN MEXICO

Edoardos California, the casual classic apparel retailer with 190 doors and additional placement at Sears Mexico and Palacio de Hierro, is currently offering PEANUTS boys and girls apparel. The program will expand to include women's apparel in summer 2010. The new product lines first hit stores this spring, and Snoopy has been on hand for several "meet & greet" events at several locations.