Emmy Winner and Celebrated Comedian Wayne Brady Creates Webisodes to Encourage Support for Teachers and Promote OfficeMax's A Day Made Better

NAPERVILLE, Ill., May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- OfficeMax® Incorporated (NYSE: OMX), a leader in office supplies and services, and Walt Disney Records announce the debut of four new webisodes starring actor, singer and comedian extraordinaire Wayne Brady that honor teachers and illustrate the universal problem they face in having to buy their own school supplies.  Scheduled to launch on AOL this week, the webisodes aim to inspire support for teachers everywhere through OfficeMax's teacher-focused cause advocacy program called A Day Made Better and for its non-profit partner Adopt-A-Classroom. A segment on AOL Video's daily program "You've Got…" debuted today.

The webisodes will air during Teacher Appreciation Week beginning on May 2, 2011. Mr. Brady hopes the webisodes will encourage widespread support for teachers across the country. Highlights of the webisodes include Mr. Brady shopping at a local OfficeMax store learning about the essential school supplies teachers need, and Mr. Brady surprising an unsuspecting teacher mid-lecture with $1,000 worth of classroom supplies and teaching the class to give the teacher a break.

"A great teacher is an invaluable resource who should be appreciated, lauded, and let's be honest, compensated far beyond what they are now," said Wayne Brady. "Our teachers take care of the future of this great country, so why not take care of them? I look forward to joining OfficeMax in making our teachers feel the love!"

"We are thrilled to have Mr. Brady's support and are grateful that he is willing to use his star power to help us spread the word to Americans across the country about how much teachers need our assistance more than ever before," said William Bonner, senior director of External Relations for OfficeMax. "We are fortunate that our A Day Made Better cause has attracted a number of well-known celebrities like Mr. Brady who are passionate about helping teachers. The ingenuity of Mr. Brady's idea of filming webisodes enables us to educate viewers on a massive scale and incite them to use the power of social media to take action."  

A multiple Emmy® winner, celebrated comedian and Grammy®-nominated singer, Wayne Brady is one of today's most versatile entertainers. He first burst on the scene as star of the improv comedy show, "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," which led to his hosting "Don't Forget the Lyrics," his own "The Wayne Brady Show," and currently "Let's Make a Deal" on CBS. He's also been a featured guest star on shows like "30 Rock," "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Chappelle Show." As a singer, Wayne released his solo album debut, A Long Time Coming, in 2008, while making his Disney debut that same year with a cover of "Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" for the Disney Music Block Party compilation.

Brady recently released his first children's album Radio Wayne through Walt Disney Records. Recreating the world of drive-time radio, Brady plays DJ Wayne on the album, talking to listeners while introducing a hot mix of songs designed help kids with everyday life lessons. The album features 14 songs, with all of the original tracks co-written by Brady. Touching on a range of musical styles – from jazz and reggae to blues and hip hop – Brady sings about good manners, good habits, and just plain having fun. Radio Wayne is now available exclusively at Amazon.com.  The nationwide release will be available wherever music is sold on May 31. For more information on Walt Disney Records' releases, please visit Disney.com/music, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic.

About A Day Made Better

In 2007, OfficeMax and its nonprofit partner Adopt-A-Classroom founded the "A Day Made Better" cause event in response to the fact that teachers are now spending an average of $1,000 out-of-pocket annually on classroom supplies to offset budget shortfalls. A figure first cited by a National Education Association survey in 2005 and confirmed by an OfficeMax survey of teachers in June 2009. Since October 2007, the "A Day Made Better" cause has funded more than 4,500 teachers and their classrooms with more than $4.5 million in school supplies from OfficeMax and attracted donations for more than 10,000 classrooms through Adopt-A-Classroom.

About OfficeMax

OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in both business-to-business office products solutions and retail office products.  The OfficeMax mission is simple.  We help our customers do their best work.  The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress®, technology products and solutions, and furniture to businesses and individual consumers.  OfficeMax customers are served by approximately 30,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and approximately 1,000 stores.  To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX.  For more information, visit www.officemax.com.

All trademarks, service marks and trade names of OfficeMax Incorporated used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of OfficeMax Incorporated.  Any other product or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

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SOURCE OfficeMax Incorporated