Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po will delight young children at McDonald’s restaurants across North America when the special “Teletubbies Hugs” Happy Meal(TM) promotion kicks off today. The chain has already had one successful venture with the Teletubbies this year.

The major consumer promotion was recently announced by McDonald’s and The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company, North American marketers of the phenomenally successful Teletubbies pre-school property, created and developed by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport of Ragdoll Ltd. Teletubbies is seen daily (Monday through Friday) on PBS’ Ready to Learn children’s programming.

“We are delighted that McDonald’s has chosen to support the quality programming that is available to children every day on PBS,” said Kenn Viselman, Chairman of The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company. “And we are pleased to be working with McDonald’s to offer these children a healthful milk and juice alternative with their “Teletubbies Hugs” Happy Meal. McDonald’s has been serving and caring for young people for years and we are proud to team up with a company that is as children and family-oriented as they are.”

“We are thrilled to bring the fun and excitement of Teletubbies to McDonald’s customers across North America,” said R.J. Milano, Vice President, McDonald’s U.S. Marketing.

The McDonald’s “Teletubbies Hugs” Happy Meal, the centerpiece of the upcoming promotion, features brightly-colored, collectible Teletubbies plush clip-ons representing each of the four stars with a playful clasp in the shape of each characters’ unique antenna, which grip onto clothing, strollers, bags, backpacks and one another. As part of the promotion, parents and caregivers are invited to choose milk or juice as a beverage with their “Teletubbies Hugs” Happy Meal.

The McDonald’s promotion also includes:

• Happy Meal box featuring scenes of the huggable Teletubbies at home in their Tubbytronic Superdome with their favorite foods. The box includes tubby custard and tubby toast punch-outs and engaging activities for children.
• Double-sided Teletubbies trayliners with a fun-filled activity on the front and a playful scene from Teletubbyland for children to color on the back.
• Colorful, in-store Teletubbies signage, posters, banners and other point-of-purchase materials at each McDonald’s restaurant Additionally, as part of the “Teletubbies Hugs” promotion, Hasbro, the exclusive licensee of the new Teletubbies Munch & Slurp plush, offers children the opportunity to send away for a free Teletubbies Koosh toy or Teletubbies Roto figure for children under 3. Upon purchasing a Teletubbies Munch & Slurp from any retail outlet, a coupon, which will be included in most Teletubbies Happy Meals, may be redeemed for the free toy.

The Teletubbies promotion is supported by an extensive multi-faceted, multi-million dollar advertising and marketing campaign, featuring a comprehensive program of television, radio and print advertisements targeted to various markets across the U.S. and Canada.

Ragdoll Ltd. was founded by acclaimed children’s television program maker Anne Wood in 1984 with the motto: “Ragdoll Works For Children.” Worldwide, Ragdoll-produced series for pre-school aged children are shown in more than 120 countries and territories, and in the UK are screened by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Independent Television Network.. The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company (www.itsybitsye.com) was launched to offer creators of unique properties a strong, dedicated partnership for production, distribution, licensing, and marketing, and was founded in 1995 by Kenn Viselman.