-Facebook promotion to drive Metro-Detroiters to businesses along parade route to find Clownie Fatheads-
Detroit, Mich. – Oct. 26, 2010 – The Parade Company and Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online mortgage lender, have partnered to create the first-ever “Where’s Clownie?” contest to promote the 84th America’s Thanksgiving Parade®. The promotion, which kicks off Sunday, October 24, will engage Metro Detroiters in a scavenger hunt leading them to some of downtown Detroit’s treasures along the parade route on Woodward Avenue to find hidden, large-scale Fatheads (life size wall graphics) of Clownie, the Parade Company’s mascot.
Interested participants must become friends with “Where’s Clownie?” via the social networking site Facebook to become official contestants for the promotion. A total of 10 clues will be given out via Facebook, from October 24 through November 11, which will help identify the location of a Clownie Fathead at a business along the Parade route. Each Clownie Fathead will be visible from the outside of the building and will be numbered. Once contestants find a Clownie Fathead, they must take a picture of the numbered Clownie and upload it to their Facebook page. A contestant has to find and upload all 10 Clownie Fathead images, and tag them as “Where’s Clownie?” to be entered to win.
All entries must be received by Sunday, November 14, 2010. Four winners will be randomly selected from qualifying contestants who submitted all 10 Clownie Fatheads. Winners will receive a Family Four-pack VIP Parade experience, including four premium grandstand tickets in the TV Zone, four tickets to the VIP breakfast inside the Compuware building, a Parade Company gift bag full of goodies and four tickets to A Day in Paradeland on Saturday, November 27, an enjoyable holiday family event at The Parade Company studio for all ages, including games, arts & crafts, delicious eats, large-than-life floats and Santa Claus.
“We are proud to welcome Quicken Loans to Detroit and to The Parade Company family,” said Tony Michaels, President & CEO, The Parade Company. “This fun and interactive program will generate excitement among our parade-goers, downtown residents and businesses leading up to America’s Thanksgiving Parade®.”
“The Clownie scavenger hunt is a great way to get people more familiar with all of the hidden gems this historic city has to offer,” said Bill Emerson, CEO of Quicken Loans. “It also is a fantastic way to bring even more attention to the best Thanksgiving Day parade in the nation.”
Quicken Loans, which moved 1,700 team members in August to the Compuware Building in downtown Detroit, is the official sponsor of Clownie. Along with providing 20 team members to walk the 40-foot Clownie balloon during the parade, the donation allowed for several repairs to the iconic parade mascot. Quicken Loans’ sister company, Fathead, is also providing all vinyl graphics for the Where’s Clownie contest and Hob Nobble Gobble®, the Parade Company’s signature fundraising event. Fathead LLC is the leading brand in sports and entertainment graphic products.
America’s Thanksgiving Parade®, one of the country’s oldest, largest and most celebrated parades, will begin at Woodward Avenue and Mack on Thursday, November 25 at 9:20 a.m. and end at Woodward Avenue and Congress in downtown Detroit. The two-hour parade will be featured on WDIV-TV Local 4, including a one-hour national broadcast reaching nearly 65 million households nationwide. News/Talk 760 WJR will also broadcast live from the Parade. For more information on The Parade Company, visit www.theparade.org or call 313.923.7400.
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About The Parade Company
Founded in 1984, The Parade Company is a not-for-profit organization governed by the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation whose board of directors is comprised of key civic and corporate leaders in the greater Detroit region. The Parade Company is celebrating 84 years of Parade tradition in Detroit. The mission is to fund, create and execute the best family events in metro Detroit. The Parade Company staff, the board of directors and thousands of parade volunteers work year-round to bring a wide variety of magnificent events to the City of Detroit each year including the Target Fireworks, Fifth Third Turkey Trot and America’s Thanksgiving Parade®.
About Quicken Loans Inc.
Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and among the five largest overall retail home lenders in the United States. The company closed more than $25 billion in retail home loan volume across all 50 states in 2009. Quicken Loans employs approximately 4,000 team members and generates loan production from five web centers located in Michigan, Ohio and Arizona. Quicken Loans also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Michigan as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. “QuickenLoans.com” has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes and Money magazines. Quicken Loans has been named to Fortune magazine’s list of the country’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” seven consecutive years, ranking as high as #2. Quicken Loans has also been named in the top-15 of Computerworld magazine’s “100 Best Places To Work In Technology” for six years in a row. The company recently moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its full-time team members to downtown Detroit. For more information about Quicken Loans, please visit www.quickenloans.com.
About Rock Holdings Inc.
Rock Holdings Inc. is the parent company for several financial services related businesses. These client-focused and technologically-driven companies include Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online home lender and its One Reverse Mortgage unit, the fastest growing reverse mortgage lender in America; Title Source, a nationwide leader of title insurance and settlement services; Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS), a mortgage origination platform servicing community banks and credit unions across the country; In-House Realty, the preferred real estate partner of Quicken Loans that matches clients with trusted real estate agents in all 50 states; and, Quizzle.com, the online innovator and website where consumers manage their home, money and credit. Rock Holdings, Inc. also recently moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit.
About Fathead LLC:
Fathead LLC is the leading brand in sports and entertainment graphic products. Fathead products give fans the opportunity to bring their favorite passion or inspiration to life. Fathead products include Fathead Customs, Fathead Tradeables, Fathead Skins, and Fathead’s flagship “Real Big:” the officially licensed life-size, hi-def wall graphics of professional athletes, animated heroes, entertainment characters, team helmets and logos. Fathead maintains license agreements with leading consumer brands across many industries and professional sports leagues. For more information, visit www.fathead.com.