Celestial Seasonings® Brings Sleepytime® Bear to Life Online Providing Escape and Calm for Tea Drinkers

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Celestial Seasonings® beloved Sleepytime® bear is about to transform traditional tea time.  With the help of social media, the Sleepytime bear character will be brought to life – delivering inspiration, calm and community and establishing a new tea time ritual that is reflective of today's realities.  

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Tonight at 7 p.m. MST, Celestial Seasonings will host a live launch party for its weekly "Tea Time with Sleepytime Bear" Twitter sessions at its Boulder, Colorado headquarters. Local bloggers and Sleepytime bear himself will be in attendance to discuss their tea time rituals (and the escape they provide) with Twitter users. The event will also introduce a new Celestial Seasonings tea variety, Sleepytime Decaf Lemon Jasmine Green Tea.

"My mantra, 'Serenity in a cup, drink it up™,' speaks directly to the unique ability of tea to help everyone relax and take a break for a few moments," said Sleepytime bear of Celestial Seasonings.  "I think of tea as 'liquid wisdom' and I've been creating and blending my own line of teas since 1972, so I have a considerable amount of wisdom to share and Twitter and Facebook offer the ideal medium, one that tea drinkers greatly value."

Sleepytime bear recently launched his own Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SleepytimeBearTea) and Twitter handle (www.twitter.com/SleepytimeBear) to provide a destination for those seeking a respite from their everyday cares.  His weekly "Tea Time with Sleepytime Bear" Twitter sessions will serve as an outlet through which tea drinkers can connect with others, share tips for finding calm and heed the bear's inspirational wisdom and comforting humor.  The weekly hour-long Twitter sessions will take place every Tuesday at 1 p.m. MST beginning December 14th.

"This new tea time ritual combines the release and connections social media provides with the naturally calming and replenishing properties of tea," said Peter Burns, General Manager of Celestial Seasonings. "Much like tea time, our iconic Sleepytime bear has changed, migrating from 'sleepy' to stylishly Zen as seen on the packaging of our newest Sleepytime tea varieties, so we're excited to bring him to life via Twitter and Facebook to inspire tea drinkers everywhere."

Each week, a different Celestial Seasonings tea will serve as "sponsor" for the Twitter "Tea Time" session, enabling online users to learn about the many all-natural varieties of Celestial Seasonings tea – including herbal, green, white, red, chai and wellness.  Additionally, Celestial Seasonings will give away special tea gift packages to selected "Tea Time" participants once a month.

Additional information is located at www.celestialseasonings.com, www.facebook.com/SleepytimeBearTea and www.twitter.com/SleepytimeBear.

Celestial Seasonings, Inc.

Celestial Seasonings, a subsidiary and brand of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. creates delicious, all-natural specialty teas that offer a variety of extraordinary tea-drinking experiences. Each of the more than 70 flavors is expertly crafted using only the highest quality 100 percent natural herbs, teas, spices and fruits to produce fresh, delicious tea blends. For more than 40 years, Celestial Seasonings has blended unique and healthful herb, green, white, black, red, Chai and wellness teas, each adorned with beautiful imagery and inspiring words and designed to delight your palate, nourish your body and feed your mind and spirit. For more information, visit www.celestialseasonings.com.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.

The Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq: HAIN), headquartered in Melville, NY, is a leading natural and organic products company in North America and Europe. Hain Celestial participates in many natural categories with well-known brands that include Celestial Seasonings®, Earth's Best®, Terra®, Garden of Eatin'®, Sensible Portions®, Health Valley®, Arrowhead Mills®, MaraNatha®, SunSpire®, DeBoles®, Gluten Free Cafe™, Hain Pure Foods®, Hollywood®, Spectrum Naturals®, Spectrum Essentials®, Walnut Acres Organic®, Imagine®, Almond Dream®, Rice Dream®, Soy Dream®, WestSoy®, The Greek Gods®, Ethnic Gourmet®, Yves Veggie Cuisine®, Granose®, Realeat®, Linda McCartney®, Daily Bread™, Lima®, Grains Noirs®, Natumi®, JASON®, Zia® Natural Skincare, Avalon Organics®, Alba Botanica®, Queen Helene®, Tushies®, Earth's Best TenderCare® and Martha Stewart Clean™.  Hain Celestial has been providing "A Healthy Way of Life™" since 1993.  For more information, visit www.hain-celestial.com.

© 2010 Celestial Seasonings, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Celestial Seasonings®, Celestial Seasonings® logo, Sleepytime® and Sleepytime® bear character are trademarks owned by Celestial Seasonings, Inc., a subsidiary of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.

SOURCE Celestial Seasonings(R)