Making New Yorkers...and me!...Smile

So, a post on Friday was not possible for me so you are getting it a couple of days late....

Our fabulous week in NYC promoting National Ice Cream Month was a rousing success. Thursday proved to be an exciting challenge as we gave away - if I am to understand correctly - 41,000 (yes, that is forty-one thousand!!) pieces of product at the corner of 50th Street and 7th Avenue. The morning sampling event included our givng out the new Blue Bunny(R) Sedona(TM) Frozen Yogurt Granola Sandwich and the aternoon event included the Blue Bunny Caramel Lovers' Champ!(R) Cone.

The BEST part of the sampling events over the past three days was making people happy by giving them ice cream. It is truly amazing to me that we all are different in terms of background, economic and social status, religion, nationality, and beliefs....yet something like an ice cream cone brings us together. Everyone loves ice cream....well, except those who are lactose-intolerant or suffer gluten allergies!.....and everyone smiles when they are given one. Young and old alike would smile and their eyes lit up when you offered them an ice cream cone.

And with the arrival of Friday, our mission to distribute thousands of pieces of ice cream drew to a close and we had a great time not only getting to know our consumers but each other.

Since there were so many great experiences in the City, I will give you my top 10 memories:

10. Trading hats with an NYPD while in line at "Good Morning America"

9. Eating my lunch and people-watching in Central Park, pretending like I have lived in NYC all my life

8. Setting out on my own to find really great sushi

7. Eating a "black and white" (cookie) every night

6. Dinner of PIZZA at John's Pizza....no slices!!

5. Crying at the end of "Wicked" - what an unbelievable story...who thinks of that stuff??

4. Running my fingers through Lonnie Quinn's hair (read my entry on 7.14.09)

3. Seeing two more original Gustav Klimt original paintings at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)

2. Eating at an off-the-beaten-path, "open to the street" restaurant/cafe with three FABULOUSLY interesting friends.....we fed crackers to the passing pooches!

1. Making New Yorkers smile with Blue Bunny ice cream!

So there you have it. What a great trip. I am richer for it.

Remember that TODAY is National Ice Cream DAY. That is right, in 1984, Ronald Reagan declared it so. Make your own people smile by making sure to feed them lots of Blue Bunny ice cream.

Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

A Hair-Raising Encounter With Lonnie Quinn

(me, pre-hair encounter..."OMG!!! That is Lonnie Quinn!")

Well, here I am in New York City with my fellow Blue Bunny(R) buddies. We are working a Public Relations event in which we are giving out 50,000 Blue Bunny Champ! Cones at the corner of 50th Street and 7th Avenue, right underneath our "Devour Them" ad. It has been so fun. Our crew is a total blast and every step is a new adventure.

This morning was our big debut on a couple of the morning shows. A colleague (I will call her J-Gal) and I were up at the crack of dawn to dress in our "uniforms" (Blue Bunny t-shirts and kahkis) and head off, each of us wearing an ice cream cone hat, to the "Good Morning America" Show. After 45 minutes of networking with the crew and NYPD, we deduced that we were definitely going to be a hit on the show. It was our job to get in-studio to tell them about how we were celebrating National Ice Cream Month (July!) by giving out our product in Times Square today through Thursday. Our hats and winning personalities won over the staff, crew, and security and that gave us the confidence that not only were we going to BE on the "Good Morning America" show, but we would probably get our own segment. OK, that is a slight embellishment but we thought we could at least make an impression. We filed, along with about 150 other tourists, in line to the entry point of the studio. We were finally singled out and pulled out of line by the audience coordinator person (I am sure there is a much more official title than that one but I cannot remember it) and asked to come with her.

This is it! They ARE going to give us our own segment!

Not exactly. We were called out of the line because we were obviously promoting something and we were not allowed to pull any kind of "PR Nonsense" (not her words) in-studio. With a few kind words about how she loves ice cream, we got the New York "Get the heck outta here" Line and a friendly bit of advice about how we should try The Today Show because (and I quote)...."Over there it is just a free-for-all."

Dejected but not discouraged, we trotted over to The Early Show, instead, to meet up with the rest of our troupe who had also gotten up early and dressed in THEIR uniforms and had gone on ahead to loiter around the gates of Harry Smith (very dashing, in person) and Lonnie Quinn, handsome-est weather guy ever, and....the hair!! Need I say more??

Well, needless to say, The Early Show folk were much more receptive to our Blue Bunny PR Antics and our uniformed group of 30+ were not only appreciated but were encouraged by the crew. We made it on several times during the hour and a half that we stood there and, despite having to share the stage with fake-bearded Santa Clauses wearing dark socks and red swim trunks and the Snickers(R) "Bar Hunger" PR pack, had a rousing good time and scored a wonderful "win" on the show.

The best part??? Yours truly made her national debut this morning! Yep! It is true.

To set it all up for you.... I have often joked about how I admire the hair of CBS weatherman stand-in, Lonnie Quinn. He covers the weather for The Early Show on weekends and fills in for the usual weather guy who works the Early Show during the week when regular, Dave Price, cannot be there.

So... Lonnie is handsome in a super-hero kind of way and has this gorgeous hair. Duirng a station break, our eyes met at one point and he was intrigued by my ice cream cone hat that I was wearing (it is always a conversation-starter). He came over and commented on the hat. We shared some "blah-dee-blah talky-talk" and then I shamelessly confessed that I watch him on the weekends and could I just touch his hair??

Stunned (but not offended), he obliged and was so friendly about it. He let me run my fingers through his lovely locks to which I relished every moment. Our group laughed, snapped a few photos, and he went on about his business. By the way - a little hairspray-ish but, otherwise, very soft. :)

So how did I make my national television debut? Goodness loves Lonnie Quinn....would you believe that he came back over to me during his live broadcast and asked me to reinact our hair encounter?? Twice in one day???? I felt faint. He was a great sport about it and, at the end, he planted the nicest kiss on my cheek. Two words: hubba hubba.

On our way back to the hotel, I decided to set a new goal. If I could run my fingers through Lonnie Quinn's hair, what would Matt Lauer allow me to do?? Maybe I will ask him the same question and make a morning show personality comparison of scalps.

By the way...by early afternoon, our Blue Bunny crew DID gave out 15,000 Blue Bunny Champ! Cones in less than 2 hours - the first of three sampling days in Times Square - and it was a total blast. It is so great to make New Yorkers and their guests smile on a hot July afternoon.

Can't wait until tomorrow's adventures. Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

Blue Bunny® Takes A Bite Out Of "The Big Apple"!

(I will be right there!)

Today’s blog entry is relatively short and sweet but I wanted to let my readers know that next week is going to be a really cool (no pun intended) week for myself and several of my co-workers.

Monday morning, our group will depart for New York City….The Big Apple….where we will be giving out nearly 50,000 Blue Bunny® Champ!® Cones all week in Times Square, beneath our ad (see photo). In addition, Yours Truly will be attempting to get on camera (I actually have two “in-studio” tickets) at the Good Morning America Show on Tuesday and my other co-workers will be sweeping the other morning networks shows, The Early Show (on Tuesday), and The Today Show (on Thursday). Be watching for us on your favorite morning show!

You can follow all of our activities on Twitter, too, at http://twitter.com/Blue_Bunny . I will also be writing about our fun in my blog entries next week.

So…start spreadin’ the news…..I’m leavin’ on Monday…..I’m gonna be a part of it…New York! New York!

And…they say that if you stand in Times Square for 7 minutes, you will run in to someone you know. I plan to be there for 4 days so….hopefully I’ll see you there!

Until next time, I remain…1SweetMama

Ice Cream Days!

It is that glorious time of year when the 9,500 residents of “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®” come together to spread the ice cream joy at our community’s flagship event, “Ice Cream Days”.

Father’s Day weekend is the time when we roll out the red carpet and invite ice cream lovers and anyone who appreciates a good community festival to the city of Le Mars, Iowa, to take in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Americana. Three days of ice cream socials, a parade, a concert in the gazebo in the park, arts festival, rib-grilling contests, competitive run….so much to do!

But this year’s highlight, for me, was playing the coveted role of Blue Bunny® Bomb Pop®.

Now, I don’t know if you understand what this means. You see, the Bomb Pop is an iconic frozen treat that has been popular for over 50 years!! This appointment to don the familiar red, white, and blue packaging is not to be taken lightly. Years of working for a company that makes the Bomb Pop got me to thinking….how does one properly represent the personality of the Bomb Pop?? This led me to perform a character analysis based on the Bomb Pop history….

Having just celebrated its 50th anniversary, the original six-finned Bomb Pop has become iconic with summer. It is rumored that two candy-makers, James S. Merritt and D.S. “Doc” Abernathy found that sales of their chocolate confections declined in the summers’ heat. Sweet-toothed patrons wanted something that was refreshing when the temperatures soared. After several attempts, the two landed (no pun intended) upon the idea of a frozen pop. Since its invention by Merritt and Abernathy in 1955 on Independence Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, the Bomb Pop® has gone down in the American history books as one of the most popular frozen confections ever created. It is adored by generations past, present, and will continue to be part of the American experience well into the future.

So you can see why I wanted to properly portray the personality of the pop.

So I, along with my fellow packages – The Blue Bunny Champ!® Cone and the Blue Bunny Aspen™ Frozen Yogurt Granola Bar (who, I am certain also did detailed character background studies) danced and pranced, twirled, and whirled our way down the 2 miles parade route properly communicating our excitement to the parade spectators for being invited to participate in the ice Cream Days festivities….

Make sure to take a look at Blue Bunny's Flickr page to see all the “cool” fun we had on Saturday.

Coincidentally, Thursday, June 25, is National Bomb Pop Day. Be sure to celebrate by enjoying one of these super-cool and refreshing red, white, and blue treats. YUM!

Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama (a.k.a Blue Bunny Bomb Pop Extraordinairre)