Barilla® Piccolini® and Disney Connect Children with Their Favorite Characters

CHICAGO, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- To bring delight and amusement to children around the country, Barilla and Disney Media Sales and Marketing have joined forces on a multi-platform promotion -- across Disney Channel, Disney Online, Radio Disney and Disney FamilyFun -- that offers a unique character call program featuring select characters from Disney Channel's #1 Playhouse Disney series, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse."  Starting today parents and family members can schedule one of six themed personalized phone calls from popular Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy for their little ones.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100616/NY21764LOGO )

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100616/NY21764LOGO )

Personalized greetings aren't the only fun to be found on the interactive website, www.disney.com/PiccoliniSmiles. For the first time, an advertiser has been integrated into the Create Tool's Digital Painter feature called Play it with Pasta where children can build custom works of art with pasta-inspired stamps, brush strokes and textures to help bring a child's artistic vision to life. These masterpieces can be further enhanced with exclusive pasta shapes using The Pasta Pen.  The microsite also includes fun for the entire family with tips and tools on creating homemade centerpieces and recipes suitable for all members of the family.

"We believe that our partnership offers a variety of activities to help a child thoroughly enjoy all aspects of mealtime, including a special surprise with a personal phone call from a Disney character," said Kirk Trofholz, president of Barilla America, Inc.   "Barilla is pleased to partner with Disney on this effort. Our miniature-sized Piccolini pasta was created with children in mind.  With Disney's help we will create more magic for kids and parents this summer."  

Barilla Piccolini bite-size classic pasta shapes—with a quick cook time of just seven minutes—adds more excitement to all family favorite pasta dishes.  Piccolini® comes in the following five miniature shapes to capture the imagination and meet a variety of recipe needs: Mini Farfalle, Mini Penne, Mini Wheels, Mini Fusilli and Mini Ziti.  These mini pasta shapes make it easy and fun for the family to enjoy a delicious and nutritious meal together.

"Moms and families can trust that Disney and Barilla brands are dedicated to families and through the strength of our media platforms, we are providing 'Piccolini moms' with all the right ingredients to  share the value of mealtime and special moments with her child," said Jon Sayer, Vice President, Sales,  Disney Media Sales and Marketing.

The Disney - Piccolini Smiles program and online activities are available through September 20, 2010 at www.disney.com/PiccoliniSmiles. There is no purchase necessary.  

About the Barilla Group

Barilla, originally established in 1877 as a bread and pasta shop in Parma, is today one of the top Italian food groups: a leader in the pasta business worldwide, in the pasta sauces business in continental Europe, in the bakery products business in Italy and in the crispbread business in Scandinavia.

Barilla owns 52 production facilities (13 in Italy and 39 outside Italy) and exports to more than 125 countries. Every year more than 2,700,000 tons of food products, with the brands Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Wasa, Harry's (France, Spain and Russia), Lieken Urkorn, Golden Toast and Kamps (Germany), Alixir, Academia Barilla, Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico), are featured on dining tables the world over.

By respecting its own traditional principles and values, which still feel current today, by considering employees a fundamental asset and by developing leading-edge production systems, Barilla has become one of the world's most esteemed food companies, and one that is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Italian know-how.  For more information: www.barillagroup.com / www.barillaus.com.

SOURCE Barilla