California Giant's 'Fear the Beard and Love the Berry' Event a Success

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California Giant's 'Fear the Beard and Love the Berry' event a success

July 12, 2011

California Giant Berry Farms teamed up with KNBR and the San Francisco Giants July 7 to cap off a six-week marketing campaign promoting berries and baseball.

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The company set up a large tent in Willy Mays Plaza at entrance to AT&T Park in San Francisco with 2,500 containers of fresh strawberries to share with fans as they arrived for the game.

For two hours leading up to the game, fans received eight-ounce containers of fresh California Giant berries to enjoy as they waited in line to enter the park or eat once they settled into their seats gearing up for the game. Kids also had the opportunity to enter a free baseball clinic scheduled in August and hosted by the Major League Baseball Alumni and sponsored by California Giant.

Being avid Giants fans at California Giant, special posters and 'beards' were created to celebrate the combination of the company's delicious berries with the team's closing pitcher, Brian Wilson, who is known for his substantial beard.

For one night only, many of the famous beards seen at all Giants games were covered in berries and fans could not get enough of them.

"We definitely did not anticipate how popular our berry beards would be with the Giants fans here tonight," Cindy Jewell, director of marketing for Cal Giant, said in a June 8 press release. "Next time we will need to be more prepared for the demand."

Beards and berries were also distributed to all of the TV and radio announcers in the broadcast booths prior to the game and before the game even got started, there were requests for more.

"We were so pleased they enjoyed their gift packs we provided, and were very surprised they requested more beards and we were more than happy to share them," Ms. Jewell added in the press release.

This particular Giant's game was also a special night for the Junior Giants attending the game, compliments of the Giants organization. The kids all received T-Shirts, new baseball gloves and a container of California Giant berries as they entered the game last night.

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The Junior Giants program gives at-risk kids a meaningful partnership with community-based organizations and provides an alternative to drugs, gangs and crime. The program focuses on the four bases of character development -- confidence, integrity, leadership and teamwork -- and offers programs in education, health and violence prevention. It welcomes kids from all backgrounds and encourages them to live healthy and productive lives by getting outside and playing baseball.

This event was a key component to California Giant's summer campaign due to the added philanthropic effort that supports local and national kids' summer camps and the baseball clinics hosted by alumni Major League Baseball players.

This is the second time California Giant and the MLBPAA have teamed to support events and programs for kids to enjoy outdoor activities and team sports to build healthy habits in life.