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Among countless "Take On Me" homages and parodies, this is one of the weakest.

The post Why General Mills Missed The Mark With This ‘Take On Me’-Inspired Spot appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

General Mills is bringing the cereal box prize into the 21st century by giving away eBooks through breakfast cereal packaging.

Working with digital content distribution platform BookShout and Simon & Schuster, the CPG company has added a unique eBook giveaway code to 8.4 million boxes of Cheerios. The promotion is part of the brand’s \"Cheer on Reading\" literacy program, which encourages young consumers to read. Here is more from the BookShout blog:

…the \"Cheer on Reading\" program provides families direct access to one of nine children’s eBooks, creating a new digital platform for General Mills to meaningfully engage with its audience. And it’s all made possible thanks to BookShout’s digital content distribution platform.

Mornings would be so much brighter if every box of cereal contained a book to read! That's why I always look forward to the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories® program every year. The Spoonful of Stories program recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the distribution of more than six million children books! This year's books could be found free inside specially marked Cheerios boxes starting in March 2012. However, if your area is anything like ours, the boxes flew off the shelves! But don't worry if you missed all the new stories this year -- read on for a giveaway you won't want to miss.

Several great Simon & Schuster small-sized paperback books were offered this year in the Cheerios boxes. The selection featured six picture book titles, written in both English and Spanish and appropriate for ages three to eight: 

● Noodle & Lou by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Arthur Howard
● Hello Baby! by Mem Fox and illustrated by Steve Jenkins
● If I Were a Jungle Animal by Amanda Ellery and illustrated by Tom Ellery
● Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni and Slade Morrison and illustrated by Joe Cepeda
● Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Scott Magoon
● Can I Just Take a Nap? by Ron Rauss and illustrated by Rob Shepperson

In addition to providing books in the cereal boxes, Cheerios made a $300,000 donation to First Book, a literacy focused non-profit, and also gave 5000 children's books to 10 First Book local volunteer chapters nationwide.

I applaud Cheerios for promoting literacy through this wonderful book distribution program. If only they could continue the program year round, and work together with other publishers, to get more free books in the hands of children!

One of the best things about the books is that they are bilingual! (And, due to the small paperback size (7" x 5-1/4"), they are also very portable and easy to stash inside a bag for trips.) My kids and I have been reading a few of the Spoonful of Stories titles this week to brush up on our Spanish just in time for Cinco de Mayo.

Do you have a great idea for a children’s story that you’d like to share with millions of people? Well, you are in luck! We are excited to announce that Cheerios® has launched its annual Cheerios® New Author Contest and is searching for the next great children’s book author.

This contest is a part of the Cheerios® Spoonful of Stories program, which has helped to distribute books to children in need and has encouraged millions of parents to read with their children. Each year, one winning submission is published by Simon and Schuster and distributed in millions of Cheerios® boxes throughout the nation. First Book volunteers will read the thousands of submissions for the contest and help to decide the winner.

Laurie Isop of Renton, Wash. was named Grand Prize Winner of the Cheerios® New Author Contest in 2009. In spring 2011, Laurie’s book, How Do You Hug a Porcupine? will be featured in three million specially-marked boxes of Cheerios®, and will be available in bookstores as well; the official release date is July 26, 2011.

If you have a great a story that you’d like to share with children ages three to eight, please visit www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com to find out more about this contest. Entries will be accepted from March 22-July 15, 2011.

There were over 8,000 submissions last year, so get to work on your genius idea and good luck!

Mattel partners with General Mills (to include exclusive Hot Wheels pullback racers in boxes of five of its popular kids' cereals — its first such deal in five years. Each box also includes a code for kids to access the Hot Wheels Racing Circuit... Read the rest of this post

'Twilight,' Miley top this year's 'Kids Choice' nominations (Plus CrunchGear highlights talkatoo from the Toy Fair, which records a parent's voice to sooth your child on the go. And Playthings has its roundup of Toy Fair buzz part one and two.)... Read the rest of this post

Cheerios 100,000 Book Giveaway challenge is currently underway. They've teamed up with Jon Scieszka and First Book to provide books to children in need. If you have a few moments, answer children's book trivia questions, support literacy in our nation and vote for the state(s) you think should receive 20,000 new books for kids. I played the game for a little while, answered 100 questions and got 61 right. (Guess I need to read a few more of Scieszka's books!) I could not locate information on when this challenge ends, but those that are interested should check out the website:
http://booksforkids.firstbook.org/jonscieszka/index.php

Several blogs are holding related contests and giving away a Cheerios prize pack consisting of books from Cheerios, Cheerios cereal and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble:
Cash Cowan - Ends 12/17
Thrify Jinxy - Ends 12/24
Deal'icious Mom - Ends 12/17
Sweet Deals 4 Mom - Ends 1/3/10
Mama's Money Savers - Ends 12/27
Savvy Mom Finds - Ends 12/14
Mummy Deals - Ends 12/15
The Copper Brick Road - Ends 12/23
Me and My Boys - Ends 12/23
Frugal Living and Having Fun - Ends 12/17
Missives From Suburbia - Ends 12/16


(I did not receive any compensation to write this post, nor was I contacted by any public relations firm. Just thought the content might interest my readers.)

Have you seen the Cheerios boxes with the children's book inside that just came out this month? The Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories books are printed in both English and Spanish. Here's a list of the five books, all by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing:

Junkyard Fort by Jon Scieszka, and illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and Dave Gordon.

Tea for Ruby by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser.

Sleepyhead by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal.

Ballyhoo Bay by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Derek Anderson.

What's Under the Bed? written and illustrated by Joe Fenton.

From now until October 30, 2009, you can vote for which books you want Cheerios to put in the box in 2010! Vote for one of the 13 books every day at http://promo.simonandschuster.com/cheerios-poll/poll.php

Coupon: $1 off box of Original Cheerios: (IE Link) (FF Link)
(coupon link via Common Sense with Money)

(I did not receive any compensation to write this post, nor was I contacted by any public relations firm. Just thought the content might interest my readers.)