David F. D'Alessandro, former chairman and chief executive of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., will join SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment as the company's chairman of the board.  SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment owns and operates 10 U.S. theme parks, including SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens.

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D'Alessandro, 59, retired from Hancock in 2006.  He led the financial services and insurance firm through a period of transformation from private mutual company to major publicly held corporation.  D'Alessandro guided Hancock through a 2005 merger with Manulife Financial that created North America's second largest insurance conglomerate and the fourth largest in the world.  The company achieved operating earnings growth under D'Alessandro's leadership that averaged 14 percent per year and average annual sales growth in excess of 15 percent. 

D'Alessandro has authored three national best-selling books, including Brand Warfare. He was named Adweek's Marketer of the Year and Hancock advertising campaigns won numerous awards during his tenure, including a CLIO and the Cannes Film Festival best commercial award.  A former Boston Red Sox partner, he was named to the Sporting News Most Powerful People in Sports list nine consecutive years, acknowledging Hancock's sponsorships of the Olympic Games, Major League Baseball and The Boston Marathon. 

A graduate of Syracuse University, he holds honorary doctorates from three colleges and serves as vice chairman of Boston University.

"We are delighted to have an executive of David's caliber join SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment," said Jim Atchison, the company's president and chief executive officer. "The growth and success achieved by John Hancock under David's leadership illustrates the remarkable business instinct and spirit of innovation that has marked his career and now will help take our company forward."

"SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is one of the nation's great family travel businesses," D'Alessandro said. "I am honored to be part of this organization and I hope my experience will bring value and help the company provide high quality entertainment experiences to its millions of guests."

D'Alessandro will serve as a non-executive chairman, providing strategic guidance and counsel via the company's board.  He will remain in Boston and work several days each month out of SeaWorld's corporate headquarters in Orlando, Fla.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment plays host to 23 million guests each year.  A portfolio company of The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), the company operates SeaWorld parks in Orlando, Fla., San Diego, Calif., and San Antonio, Texas; Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va.; Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando; Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa. near Philadelphia; Water Country USA in Williamsburg and Adventure Island in Tampa.  SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment employs 20,000 people nationwide.

SOURCE SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

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MovieTickets.com, the worldwide leader in advance movie ticketing, today announced it will provide online movie ticketing services for Spain's Circuito I.N.D.I.E theater circuit (Vircas.es Group) and will provide showtimes and advance movie ticketing through the launch of the MovieTickets.com.es website. Circuito I.N.D.I.E currently operates 125 screens and has rapid expansion plans in place for the next three years.

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To date, MovieTickets.com has steadily increased its global ticketing capabilities, strategically identifying key markets beyond the U.S. to offer online ticketing solutions.  MovieTickets.com currently serves moviegoers in multiple countries and territories, offering advance movie ticketing for Canada at MovieTickets.ca; in the U.K. at MovieTickets.co.uk; in Ireland at MovieTickets.ie; at MovieTickets.com.ar in Argentina; and in Aruba, Bermuda and Curacao under the MovieTickets.com brand.  The company has 10 different versions of the MovieTickets.com website, including Spanish and French language versions.

"MovieTickets.com is becoming the global online movie ticketing resource that we set out for it to be," said Joel Cohen, CEO, MovieTickets.com. "We've identified Spain as another important market that fits well into our international development strategy. This partnership marks the first of many new markets that we'll be expanding into, growing our solutions' footprint and overall brand visibility."

For a complete list of the MovieTickets.com exhibitors, please visit: www.movietickets.com/200strong.

For more information or to speak with a MovieTickets.com representative, contact Formula at (310) 578-7050 or via e-mail at casey@formulapr.com.

About MovieTickets.com

MovieTickets.com (www.movietickets.com), the worldwide leader in advance movie ticketing, offers moviegoers a destination for movie news, reviews and trailers as well as a convenient way to buy movie tickets in advance. MovieTickets.com enables consumers to buy tickets online for movie screens across the United States, as well as in Canada at MovieTickets.ca; in the U.K. at MovieTickets.co.uk; in Ireland at MovieTickets.ie; in Argentina at MovieTickets.com.ar; from any Internet-enabled wireless device at mobile.movietickets.com; and from any phone at 877-789-MOVIE. Formed in 2000, MovieTickets.com is a joint venture between AMC Entertainment, Hollywood Media Corp. (NASDAQ: HOLL), National Amusements, Cineplex Entertainment, Marcus Theatres (NYSE: MCS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Time Warner, and leverages the collective theater chain expertise to deliver consumers a premium movie ticketing experience. Its elite collection of partner theaters consistently represents over 50 percent of the top 100 grossing theaters in North America on any given weekend. The MovieTickets.com theater chain group, which includes 209 theater chains, is about 10 times the number of chains of its nearest competitor.

SOURCE MovieTickets.com

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The stars showed off their taste for fashion -- and love of a bargain -- last week as they visited flash sale site Beyond the Rack's booth at GBK Productions' annual Luxury Gift Lounge in honor of this year's Emmy nominees and presenters.

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Celebrities swarmed Beyond the Rack's booth at the swanky SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills where each received a Beyond the Rack tote bag containing a $500 BTR shopping card, gold-plated pendant necklace by Hazel & Harlow, custom-designed American Apparel Beyond the Rack tank top, and a pair of cool Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Television stars who became members of Beyond the Rack include: Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Melissa Joan Hart, Neil Patrick Harris, Miss J. Alexander (America's Next Top Model), Rex Lee (Entourage), Ryan Eggold (90210), Seth Green, Sara Rue, Scott Adsit (30 Rock), Julie Benz (Dexter), Lauren Bowles (True Blood), Katrina Bowden (30 Rock), Emmy award winner Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife), Beau Bridges, Bryan Batt (Mad Men), Carrie Ann Inaba (Dancing with the Stars), Fred Willard (Modern Family), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Josh Sussman (Glee), Katheryn Joosten (Desperate Housewives), Michael Chiklis, Mike O'Malley (Glee), Patrick Gallagher (Glee), Robert Morse (Mad Men) Alexander Gould (Weeds), Blair Underwood, Brenda Vaccaro, and Daniel Dae Kim (Lost).

"I was surprised at the number of stars who told me how much they prefer online shopping as opposed to retail stores," said Beyond the Rack Public Relations Manager, Lori Krebs. With their busy schedules and private lifestyles, shopping sites like Beyond the Rack come in very handy. "It was incredible to witness the eagerness of A-list celebrities who wanted to join our site," commented Beyond the Rack CEO, Yona Shtern.

To see our photo gallery click here.

About Beyond the Rack

Beyond the Rack is North America's premier members-only shopping club offering consumers the most sought after designer brand apparel, accessories, beauty, housewares, and home decor items at up to 70% off retail. Beyond the Rack sells its products in the context of two-day, first-come, first-served events, launching up to 15 brand events per day. A privately-held company, with offices in Montreal and New York, Beyond the Rack serves over 2 million North American members.

SOURCE Beyond the Rack

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zGames, the mobile game division of Softeq Development Corporation, today announced the launch of its innovative matching game zMatch for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. zMatch is available immediately for $0.99 from Apple's App Store.

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"The concept for zMatch originated from the imaginative minds of our Minsk Mobile team. Once we saw the demo concept and how much fun people were having while playing zMatch, we simply had to release it as a full game," stated Chris Howard, CEO of Softeq. "With zMatch, you match three or more of the same objects using the accelerometer, while also playing with burning match sticks. So yes, you're literally playing with matches -- in more ways than one!"  

In zMatch, match sets of three or more shapes, and touch to burn or explode them. Burn bonuses or draw a matchstick to lengthen your time fuse, but don't let the fuse reach the top! Light a matchstick to double your points while the matchstick is burning, or light several matchsticks to really get a high scoring run. zMatch supports OpenFeint for shared leaderboards and achievements. Achieve your own Towering Inferno or play long enough to Burn, Baby, Burn!

Key Features of zMatch include:

• Accelerometer-based matching play
• Innovative matching and matchstick gameplay
• Quick to learn yet fun to play again
• Adaptive difficulty stages
• Achievements and Leaderboards

About zGames

zGames is a multi-platform provider of innovative, imaginative and fun mobile applications and games for all ages. zGames is a division of Softeq Development Corporation. zGames creates leading edge mobile applications for the latest mobile platforms, while also showcasing Softeq's technical software capabilities. For more information, visit www.zgames.com.

About Softeq Development Corporation

Softeq specializes in custom technical software and firmware for embedded and mobile devices. For 15 years, Softeq has provided onshore and offshore software services to the largest names in consumer electronics. For more information, visit www.softeq.com.

Note: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

SOURCE Softeq Development Corporation

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Successful Promotions magazine today released a Top 10 list of the hottest celebrities hawking everything from bottled water to eyewear in sexy marketing campaigns aimed at worldwide audiences.

Successful Promotions, published by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), uncovered 10 of the sexiest celebrities promoting products like Armani underwear and drumming up business with top-drawer appearances.

"Judging from the successes of these campaigns, it's obvious that sex still sells – and that the right celebrity can help a business gain instant attention," said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. "Who hasn't heard of the Jersey Shore gang? Sometimes all it takes is a single photo or one big celebrity to build a brand, capture a consumer's imagination and sell millions of products."

ASI's Top 10 sexiest celebrity marketers are:

• Jennifer Aniston: The former Friends star is promoting her new scent, Lolavie, and appearing in Smart Water campaigns.
• Patrick Dempsey: "Dr. McDreamy" is the spokesman for Versace and appears in ads for Serengeti eyewear and Unscripted, a line of colognes for Avon.
• Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino: The ab-fabulous Jersey Shore star charges $7,500 and up for an event appearance sure to attract the paparazzi.
• Lady Gaga: The Twitterific pop sensation is now creative director of Polaroid, and has lent her name and image to Virgin Mobile, Monster Cable and Viva Glam by MAC Cosmetics.
• Cristiano Ronaldo: The Portuguese soccer stud is the official worldwide spokesmodel for Emporio Armani underwear and Armani Jeans.
• Megan Fox: The star of the blockbuster Transformers is the face of luxury brand Armani.
• Isaiah Mustafa: Portrayed as "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," the former NFL player helped Old Spice cologne become the number-one all-time most-viewed sponsored channel on YouTube.
• Sandra Bullock: The Oscar winner is the face of Artistry Creme LuXury, an Amway company that hopes its connection to the A-lister will elevate its brand status.
• Scarlett Johansson: The starlet evokes Marilyn Monroe in Dolce & Gabbana perfume and makeup ads, and is the new face of Moet & Chandon champagne.
• Paris Hilton: The hotel heiress lent her mug to campaigns for Guess and restaurant chain Carl's Jr. and reportedly gets up to $500,000 for appearances.

The story, "Hot Commodities," is part of the "Sex (Still) Sells" issue of Successful Promotions, one of six magazines published by ASI. Successful Promotions is read by more than 50,000 corporate marketers throughout North America who are looking for innovative techniques and products to promote their businesses.  

The cover story details five successful marketing campaigns that incorporated sexy themes, and includes scintillating promotional products like Sexy Water and the "candom," a can cooler shaped like an oversized condom. To read the Successful Promotions "Sex (Still) Sells" issue, click here.

For more information, contact Melinda Ligos, ASI's editor-in-chief and senior VP of professional development, at (215) 953-3434 and mligos@asicentral.com.

About ASI

The Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties. Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms. Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers. ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools. Visit ASI at asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, the CEO's blog and the ASI Social Network. 

SOURCE Advertising Specialty Institute

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