Whose Cat Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Meow Mix® Brand Offers $1 Million Prize in Game Show on GSN Where Cats and Their Humans Compete as a Team, Feline Charities Benefit

Whose cat wants to be a millionaire? The Meow Mix® cat food brand today announces that one lucky feline, along with his or her pet parent, will have the opportunity for a million-dollar payday on “The Meow Mix® Game Show”—the world’s first game show to test how well people can think like their cat. The thirty-minute program, in which cats and their humans will compete as a team, will air on Game Show Network (GSN) on November 15, 2008.

“Meow Mix has always understood what makes cats happy, and our goal with ‘The Meow Mix Game Show’ is to pass this knowledge along to Meow Mix’s pet parents,” said Brian Ely, Director Marketing, Del Monte Foods. “We did this last year when we opened The Meow Mix Acatemy—the world’s first school to teach people how to think like a cat—and now we’re giving pet parents and their cats the chance to show off how well they understand each other, and in the process win a lot of money for themselves and for charity. Both the Acatemy and ‘The Meow Mix Game Show’ are key ways that Del Monte Pet Foods is enhancing the emotional connection between pet and pet parents with innovative products and marketing.”

“The Meow Mix® Game Show” will put a cat-centric twist on classic game shows like “The Newlywed Game” and “Jeopardy”. Parents will be quizzed on general feline knowledge—covering categories such as nutrition, behavior, anatomy and the role of cats in pop culture—as well as interactive challenges where cats and pet parents must work together to be successful.

“GSN is excited about integrating our customers’ advertising message and brand attributes into programming,” said John Zaccario, GSN Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales. “’The Meow Mix Game Show’ partnership leverages GSN’s television and digital platforms to achieve maximum impact with our audience. We are thrilled to be working with Del Monte and their Meow Mix brand. They demonstrate a talent to think creatively and embrace new ways to engage audiences.”

Upon completion of the regulation rounds, the team with the most points will have the opportunity to take part in a television first—the chance for a cat parent and his or her cat to win one million dollars—as well as $100,000 for a feline-related charity in their community. Even if the team doesn’t hit the million-dollar jackpot, the winning team will still take home $25,000—plus $2,500 will be donated to their local feline charity. The second-place team will win $15,000 (in addition to a $1,500 donation to their local feline charity) and the third-place team will receive $10,000 (as well as a $1,000 donation to their local feline charity). In addition, all finalists will win a year’s supply of new Meow Mix® Wholesome Goodness™ cat food.

Meow Mix® Game Show Auditions … Coming Soon to a Cat-Friendly City Near You

Cat-testants will be selected through auditions held in eights cities, beginning in Chicago on June 14, 2008 and concluding in Los Angeles on August 3, 2008. One team from each city will be flown to Los Angeles to compete on the show, which will tape in late August. Meow Mix® brand will partner with a local shelter in each market and donate one pound of Meow Mix® Wholesome Goodness™ cat food for every team that auditions. GSN.com will also feature video highlights from the auditions online where viewers can log on to vote on their favorite clip. The winning clip will go on to be featured on GSN Live™.

The complete list of audition cities is as follows:
CITY
LOCATION
DATES (2008)
Chicago Hotel Allegro June 14 and 15
New York Helen Mills Theater June 21 and 22
Tampa Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay June 28 and 29
Dallas Hotel Palomar July 5 and 6
Denver JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek July 12 and 13
Portland Red Lion Hotel July 19 and 20
San Francisco The Prescott Hotel July 26 and 27
Los Angeles The Music Box at Fonda August 2 and 3

An American Humane Certified Animal Safety Representative will be present at the auditions, as well as the game show taping, to monitor the well-being of all of the cats participating in the show. In addition, Steve Dale, a member of the American Humane Association Board, as well as host of a popular pet radio show and author of a nationally syndicated column on pets, is serving as a consultant to the show.

“The Meow Mix Game Show” was created by Grand Central Marketing, the company that previously developed “The Meow Mix House™,” a 2006 reality show starring 10 shelter cats, and the Meow Mix Café®, a restaurant for cats and their humans. The Executive Producer is David Doyle, the former vice president of program development and production for Animal Planet, where he was instrumental in the development of such shows as “The Puppy Bowl” and “The World’s Ugliest Dog Competition”. As lead agency for Meow Mix®, TracyLocke developed the “Think Like a Cat” concept to serve as the first extended platform for the Meow Mix® brand and serves as the strategic integrator for all facets of the program.

Pet parents can visit www.MeowMix.com for more information and to learn how they, and their cats, can audition for the show.

About Meow Mix® Brand

Meow Mix® brand “Tastes So Good Cats Ask For It By Name!®” Meow Mix® is the leading brand in cat food with a mission of keeping cats happy. The brand is proud to offer a wide range of products to suit whatever tastes your cat loves. Whether your cat eats dry food, wet food or a combination of both, Meow Mix® cat food has the variety and taste that cats crave. Meow Mix® brand offers a range of dry and wet cat food, premium pouch and Meow Mix® cat treats.

About Del Monte Pet Products

At Del Monte, our pet products nourish and enrich the lives of pets and pet parents by providing great-tasting, high-quality and innovative products for dogs and cats and by encouraging them to enjoy an active lifestyle together. With trusted brands including Meow Mix®, Kibbles ‘n Bits®, 9Lives®, Snausages®, Pup-Peroni®, Milk-Bone®, Meaty Bone® and Pounce®, our products enrich the connection between people and the pets they love. As a premier provider of taste-oriented pet food and pet snacks, our products play a key role in the lives of millions of pet families everyday.

About Del Monte Foods

Del Monte Foods is one of the country’s largest and most well known producers, distributors and marketers of premium quality, branded food and pet products for the U.S. retail market, generating more than $3.7 billion in net sales in fiscal 2008. With a powerful portfolio of brands including Del Monte®, StarKist®, S&W®, Contadina®, College Inn®, Meow Mix®, Kibbles ‘n Bits®, 9Lives®, Milk-Bone®, Pup-Peroni®, Meaty Bone®, Snausages® and Pounce®, Del Monte products are found in nine out of ten U.S. households. The Company also produces, distributes and markets private label food and pet products. For more information on Del Monte Foods Company (NYSE:DLM) visit the Company’s website at www.delmonte.com.

Del Monte. Nourishing Families. Enriching Lives. Every Day.™

About GSN

GSN, the Game Show Network, is the premier destination for game content. From exciting, original watch-and-win endeavors to classic franchises and dynamic online games, including free casual and skill-based games, cash tournaments and cash games at GSN.com (and WorldWinner.com), GSN is where people come to play, anywhere, anytime. GSN is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation and is distributed to more than 66 million cable television subscribers throughout the U.S. and Canada by all major cable operators, satellite providers and telcos. For further information, visit GSN’s press website at http://corp.GSN.com.
Contacts

Grand Central Marketing
Keith Fernbach, 212-253-8777
or
Del Monte Foods
Bryson Thornton, 412-222-8661