MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Machine Label
Group, General Mills and Feeding America®
have again joined
together for the Outnumber Hunger Campaign, a
nationwide effort aimed at fighting hunger
in local communities across America. This
year's program features country music's most-played
artist of 2016, multi-ACM nominee, Thomas Rhett, as the
campaign's spokesperson.
Since its launch in 2011, Outnumber Hunger has helped
secure more than 45 million meals for local families served by
the Feeding America nationwide network of member food
banks. This year, Thomas Rhett will be featured on the
front of specially-marked packages of nearly 60 General Mills
brands, including Cheerios™, Lucky Charms™, Nature Valley™
and Totino's™. Beginning March
1, individuals can purchase specially-marked products,
enter the code found on the packaging along with
their zip code at Outnumberhunger.com to help Feeding
America® secure five meals* on behalf of their
local member food bank.
"For more than 30 years, General Mills has partnered with
Feeding America to raise awareness for hunger. It's through
programs like Outnumber Hunger, that we get the opportunity to
create unique ways to get our shoppers involved with the cause so
that we can band together to help our local communities,"
said Kristin Merchant, integrated shopper marketing senior
planner at General Mills. "As food insecurity continues to be an
ongoing issue across the United
States, we're proud to do our part as a company, and
have outstanding partners like Big Machine Label
Group, to put a spotlight on the cause so we can help to
outnumber hunger."
"With more than 45 million meals secured as a
part of the Outnumber Hunger program, we wanted to find a way in
2017 to add another element to continue to expand this important
program to help fight hunger," said Big Machine Label Group
President Scott Borchetta. "We
are thrilled to partner with General Mills and Feeding America once
again and to add another dimension—with a Pandora Plus trial and
exclusive Big Machine Label Group artist content—for fans and
program participants. Using music to affect positive change is a
cornerstone at Big Machine Label Group."
A long-time advocate for fighting
hunger, CMA, ACM, Billboard
Music and CMT Award-Winner Thomas Rhett has
participated in the Outnumber Hunger campaign every year since its
inception. Additionally, the multi-Platinum
singer/songwriter has a history of holding numerous fan
events, including his official Fan Club parties, to benefit Feeding
America.
"It's great to have been part of the Outnumber Hunger Program
since it started six years ago," said Thomas Rhett. "Being able to see the
program's impact firsthand is a really amazing perspective
to have, so I'm excited to be part of sharing their story
and helping offer fans a way to help give back to their local
communities."
This year, fans can also access special
behind-the-scenes artist content featuring spokesperson
Thomas Rhett and participating Big
Machine Label Group artists, including iconic
superstar Reba McEntire, Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame members Cheap Trick, 2016 American Idol
winner Trent Harmon, newly minted
chart-topper Brett
Young, Grammy® Award-winning
vocalist Jennifer
Nettles and many more,
at OutnumberHunger.com/Backstage. For the first time in
the program's history, streaming service Pandora will also be a
part of the Outnumber Hunger campaign, with an exclusive playlist
curated by Big Machine Label Group featuring Thomas Rhett and a 30-day
Pandora-Plus subscription trial.
Outnumber Hunger has included numerous components and support
from platinum-selling BMLG artists including
Rascal Flatts, Florida Georgia
Line, Reba McEntire, Brantley Gilbert,
Justin Moore, Eli Young Band
and The Voice
winners Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery, who
have performed during first-rate charity concerts and
made visits to local food banks over the program's six-year
history. This long-standing partnership has helped secure
more than 45 million meals for Feeding America, the nation's
largest domestic hunger-relief organization, and has helped to
bring national awareness of the 1 in 8 Americans who struggle with
food insecurity.
"With more than 42 million people struggling with hunger,
programs like Outnumber Hunger help to inform and engage the
public," said Diana Aviv, CEO of
Feeding America. "For the last six years, General Mills and Big
Machine Label Group have worked with Feeding America to shine a
light on hunger, an issue that exists in every county in America.
We are grateful for their support and excited to be a part of
Outnumber Hunger again this year."
For more information on Outnumber Hunger,
visit Outnumberhunger.com/Backstage.
Full list of 2017 participating Outnumber Hunger Product
Brands:
Cheerios™, Very
Berry Cheerios™, Cookie Crisp, Reese's Puffs,
Nature Valley™, Betty
Crocker, Pillsbury™, Old
El Paso™, Totino's®,
Fruit By The Foot, Fruit Roll-Ups, Scooby-Doo! Fruit
Flavored Snacks, Mott's® Medleys Assorted Fruit
Flavored Snacks, Suddenly Salad, Gardetto's, Chex Mix Muddy
Buddies, and Fiber One™.
*Editor's Note: For every code you enter
by January 31, 2018, General Mills will donate 45¢
to Feeding America® – enough to secure 5 meals on behalf of local
food banks. Maximum total donation of $700,000. General
Mills has already donated $500,000. General Mills will donate up
to an additional $200,000 based on
online code entry and other consumer actions. Look for more
information about the program
at www.OutnumberHunger.com.
ABOUT THOMAS RHETT
With "a sky-rocketing Country career" (TODAY),
Thomas Rhett recently earned his
seventh career No. One with the fastest-rising single of his career
"Star Of The Show," featured on his sophomore album TANGLED UP
DELUXE (The Valory Music Co.), the track was
co-written by Thomas Rhett,
Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip,
and is the fourth to take the top position off his PLATINUM
certified release. Filled with party anthems, dance tunes,
drinking songs and love ballads, the 18-track TANGLED UP DELUXE
(The Valory Music Co.) also includes his 2X PLATINUM
Grammy-nominated six-week chart-topping smash "Die A Happy Man,"
which has garnered major trophies from the Country Music
Association, Academy of Country Music, Billboard Music Awards, and
CMT Music Awards. One of Rolling Stone's most
anticipated tours of this year just became more explosive as
Thomas Rhett extends his first-ever
headlining 2017 HOME TEAM TOUR kicking off this week on
Feb. 23 in Saginaw, MI. After drawing capacity crowds
overseas last year, he returns as a "force to be reckoned
with" (Daily Star) with plans to return to
Europe while also making his debut
headlining run in Canada in
addition to US dates. For more information and for a full list
of upcoming tour dates, visit www.thomasrhett.com.
ABOUT GENERAL MILLS
General Mills is a leading global
food company that serves the world by making food people love. Its
brands include Cascadian Farm, Cheerios,
Annie's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Fiber One, Haagen-Dazs,
Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El
Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more.
Headquartered in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2016 worldwide
sales of US $17.6 billion, including
the company's US $1.0 billion
proportionate share of joint-venture net sales. For more
information about General Mills,
visit www.generalmills.com.
ABOUT BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP
Led by Founder,
President and CEO Scott Borchetta,
the Big Machine Label Group encompasses Big Machine Records,
The ValoryMusic Co., BMLG Records, Dot Records, Nash Icon Records and publishing
company Big Machine Music. BMLG artists include superstars
Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts,
Reba McEntire, Florida Georgia
Line, Hank Williams Jr.,
Ronnie Dunn, Steven
Tyler, Cheap Trick, Jennifer
Nettles and Brantley Gilbert;
chart-topping acts Thomas Rhett, Justin Moore,
Eli Young Band, Maddie & Tae, A
Thousand Horses, Aaron Lewis, The
Voice winners Cassadee Pope and
Danielle Bradbery; up-and-comers The Cadillac Three,
Drake White, Tucker Beathard,
Brett Young, Tara Thompson, Midland, Carly Pearce, Delta
Rae as well as soundtracks for the hit TV show "NASHVILLE." Borchetta served as
the mentor on American Idol for Seasons 14 and 15.
BMLG artists have received multiple GRAMMY, CMA, ACM, AMA,
CMT, Teen Choice, MTV, Billboard, People's
Choice and Brit Awards. Big Machine is the
first-ever American label to align with terrestrial radio
for performance royalty rights for its artists and is an
industry leader in fighting for artist, songwriter, publisher and
record company
rights. Visit BigMachineLabelGroup.com for more
information.
ABOUT FEEDING AMERICA
Feeding
America® is the nationwide network of 200 food
banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food
to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and
meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also
supports programs that improve food security among the people we
serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and
advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry.
Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role
in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate.
Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org,
find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
ABOUT PANDORA
Pandora is the world's most powerful
music discovery platform – a place where artists find their fans
and listeners find music they love. We are driven by a single
purpose: unleashing the infinite power of music by connecting
artists and fans, whether through earbuds, car speakers, live on
stage or anywhere fans want to experience it. Our team of
highly trained musicologists analyze hundreds of attributes for
each recording which powers our proprietary Music Genome Project®,
delivering billions of hours of personalized music tailored to the
tastes of each music listener, full of discovery, making artist/fan
connections at unprecedented scale. Founded by musicians, Pandora
empowers artists with valuable data and tools to help grow their
careers and connect with their fans.
www.pandora.com | @pandoramusic | www.pandoraforbrands.com | @PandoraBrands | amp.pandora.com
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SOURCE General Mills