Wanted: A Smart Star for the hotels.com 'Clay Yourself' Contest

DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotels.com® introduces the "Clay Yourself" micro site, http://www.clayyourself.com, today for the public to create their own digital clay avatar and submit their custom image to the "Star in a hotels.com Commercial" contest. Through this fun, interactive micro site anyone can create a digital clay character that resembles their facial characteristics and captures their personality. Digital clay avatars may be shared through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click; http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/hotels/48103/

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110110/MM27042 )

To "audition" to star in a hotels.com commercial, simply click through the interactive portal and create a digital rendering of yourself.  Eight weekly winners, based on the number of votes, will each receive $200 in hotels.com vouchers. One grand prize winner will secure the chance to star in the next hotels.com commercial, slated to air spring 2011. Hotels.com will take the winner’s digital rendition and mold it into an actual clay figurine.  The figurine will star along-side the hotels.com spokesperson, Smart, a clay character and the face of hotels.com, in an animated commercial. Additionally, they will win three days and two nights in Los Angeles for a behind-the-scenes look at the commercial’s production. Follow Hotels.com on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hotelsdotcom to see the winning clay avatars. The “Clay Yourself” contest concludes on February 25, 2011.

"There appears to be a great following for the series of hotels.com animated commercials, which use clay figurines to tell a story," said Vic Walia, Sr. Director of North America brand advertising. "We're having a lot of fun so we've extended that experience to our followers by giving a lucky winner the chance to star in a commercial and having themselves built out of clay." 

Hotels.com has chosen stop-motion photography and clay figurines as a way to stand out from the crowd.  The hotels.com spokesperson Smart, knows how to travel smart, and will soon be joined by another clay shining star. To launch this commercial contest, hotels.com worked with its ad agency, Young & Rubicam (Y&R) Chicago.

For more information, please visit: http://www.clayyourself.com

About hotels.com

Hotels.com® is a leading provider of lodging worldwide, offering more than 130,000 properties in over 60 countries from national chain hotels and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts. Hotels.com is the smarter way to book travel by offering  welcomerewards®, an industry leading loyalty rewards program; the real opinions of other travelers captured in over 1.5 million Guest Reviews and;  a Price Match Guarantee, so that those booking with hotels.com can be assured they are getting the best deal, either online or by speaking directly to a travel expert at 1-800-2-HOTELS 24 hours a day. For more information, please visit hotels.com. Hotels.com is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE). Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hotelsdotcom and Twitter via www.twitter.com/hotelsdotcom or visit the hotels.com Travel Smart Blog for consumer and business travel information. Get clayed at http://www.clayyourself.com. Detailed Hotel Price Index data is available at: http://www.hotel-price-index.com, hotels.com, A Smarter Way to Book™.

Hotels.com and the hotels.com logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of hotels.com, LP. Other logos or products and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners © 2011 hotels.com, LP. All rights reserved. CST # 2083949-50

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