Shhh... It's A Surprise -- UP, America's Christmas Channel, Launches 'Top Secret Santa' Campaign!

ATLANTA, Nov. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- UP, America's favorite channel for uplifting entertainment, will demonstrate the essence of its "Uplift Someone" initiative with its new "Top Secret Santa" campaign.  The Campaign's mission is to demonstrate the true spirit of Christmas by spreading Christmas cheer to families in need and inspiring others to do the same.  Selected by a charitable organization in their local community, nine families in five cities across the country will get a surprise visit from UP's "Top Secret Santa Patrol" team.  Each family will receive cash and a customized bounty of much-needed Christmas gifts. 

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The "Top Santa Secret" campaign complements UP's Christmas programming lineup as it transforms to "America's Christmas Channel" with over 40 days and 400 hours of uplifting original holiday movies, Christmas specials, music and marathons.

"The goal of our 'Top Secret Santa' initiative is to show the true meaning of Christmas," said Charley Humbard, president and CEO of UP Entertainment, LLC.  "We hope that these small acts of kindness spread joy and Christmas cheer and inspire others to do the same.  'Top Secret Santa' is a fitting extension of our 'Uplift Someone' initiative, which is relevant every day of the year but particularly during the Christmas season. What better time to uplift and touch individuals who might need a little help?  We encourage our viewers to pay it forward by doing good deeds.  Everyone can make a difference."

In the new Christmas campaign, families in Atlanta, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Dallas and Houston will be visited by UP's irreverent Top Secret Santa Patrol team, consisting of "Elf," "Reindeer" and of course, "Top Secret Santa." The Top Secret Santa posse will travel across the country in a custom Christmas wrapped mini-van. Each family believes that UP is taping them so they can share uplifting Christmas memories, but during the course of the "interview" the Top Secret Santa team will surprisingly appear bearing gifts. All items selected were based on the family's specific needs.  Gifts will include large unwrapped items such as bicycles and kitchen tables.

UP's in-house creative department will produce Top Secret Santa vignettes that capture the surprise visits.  The fun, irreverent and uplifting vignettes, which have a creative execution akin to the intrigue of "Mission Impossible" and the surprise delivery of the Publisher's Clearinghouse patrol, will air on UP starting December 1 during the UP Premiere Movie Silver Bells.  The vignettes will run through Christmas as part of the network's most extensive Christmas slate to date.  To view the vignettes, go to http://www.uptv.com/uplift.

UP's community outreach to the families was aided by Xfinity and Time Warner Cable.  In addition, the families were identified for UP by local organizations, including:

• The Center for Family Resources (Atlanta)
• The Salvation Army (Cleveland)
• Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northeast Florida (Jacksonville)
• Frisco Family Services (Dallas)
• Neighborhood Centers, Inc. (Houston)

In 2011, UP launched its pro-social initiative "Uplift Someone" as an extension of its "uplifting entertainment" tagline.  The goal of the initiative is to encourage and inspire people to do simple acts of kindness to help uplift someone in order to make our world a better place.  Since its inception, "Uplift Someone" has provided tornado relief to needed communities and has supported Stephen Curtis Chapman's Show Hope, a non-profit organization created to aid orphans. 

UP (www.uptv.com) is America's favorite television network for uplifting family entertainment.  The network presents original and acquired movies, series, stage plays and music specials along with gMovies, the first faith-friendly streaming movie service. The UP brand is reflected in "Uplift Someone," the network's successful pro-social initiative.  UP can be seen in more than 65 million homes on cable systems around the country, as well as DISH Network on channel 188, DIRECTV on channel 338 and Verizon FIOS on channel 224.  Follow UP on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/UPtv, Twitter on @UPtv and Instagram at UP_TV.

SOURCE UP