Hallmark launches pet card competition

Hallmark wants to know who has the funniest pet photo in America - and the wit to craft a clever "birthday" sentiment to go along with it.
Today Hallmark Cards, Inc., is kicking off "Your Pets," a competition in which consumers will enter pet photo birthday card designs, Hallmark will print and sell the finalists, and America will vote on the best. The winner with the most online votes will receive a $1,000 grand prize and a trip to Hallmark.
"YourPets" is the second in a series of ongoing card competitions Hallmark introduced in November. While the first competition encouraged consumers to design a card corresponding with Hallmark's partnership with (PRODUCT) RED- the finalists of which currently are for sale on http://www.Hallmark.com/you - the second rendition is all about our favorite four-legged friends and the things they do to make us smile. In "YourPets," Hallmark is encouraging pet owners to dig through their photo albums and submit the funniest, most endearing, cutest, silliest, or most creative pet photos along with a corresponding "birthday" sentiment for a chance to win.
"Hallmark consumers have never been shy about sharing their ideas for new greeting cards with us - including sending us their funny pet photos - and we love to hear from them," said Lindsey Roy, senior product manager at Hallmark. "In fact, we want to encourage it. With these competitions, we're giving our fans an opportunity to turn those great ideas into real Hallmark cards. Even better, we want them to select the winner. We can't wait to see which one of their touching pet photos will win America's heart."
If every dog has its day ... is today the day for your dog? To enter the Hallmark "Your Pets" competition, log on to http://www.Hallmark.com/you Jan. 14 - Feb. 3, 2008.
Sixty-seven finalists will each win $250 cash, and their cards will be printed by Hallmark and sold both online at http://www.Hallmark.com/you and in more than 10,000 stores.
The 67 finalist card designs in the pet picture contest will be selected based on:
-- Sendability (how easily the card can be sent to multiple people)
-- Theme (how well it fits the funny pet birthday photo theme)
-- Humor/cohesiveness of caption (how well the pet photo and writing go together)
Finalists will be posted on http://www.Hallmark.com/you starting March 3, 2008.

The top dog
After the finalists are announced, America will choose the winner. Through an open online voting process, one Grand Prize winner will be selected whose card will be availablef or sale at http://www.Hallmark.com/you for at least a year and may become part of another card collection. The Grand Prize also includes a $1,000 cash prize and trip to Hallmark with his/her pet for a professional photo shoot and workshop with Hallmark's creative team. Complete contest rules are posted on the Web site. No purchase is necessary.

About Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Kansas City-based Hallmark is known throughout the world for its greeting cards, related personal expression products, and television's most honored and enduring dramatic series, the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The company's Crayola subsidiary provides fun and imaginative ways for children to colorfully express themselves. The company publishes products in more than 30 languages and distributes them in more than 100 countries. In 2006, Hallmark reported consolidated net revenues of $4.1 billion.