YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST LOVE…NOW GIVE HIM A HUG!

HIT ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRATES OVER 25 YEARS OF BARNEY® WITH THE LAUNCH OF BARNEY 25 MILLION HUGS CAMPAIGN

Barney® Begins Giving Virtual Love to Fans via ShareBarneyHugs.com

He’s shown Selena and Demi some sugar and now he’s getting ready to visit email boxes, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds of fans with a special greeting!

Check out these sweet tweets from Celebrity moms Christina Applegate and Tori Spelling...

To celebrate more than  25 years of sharing, caring, imagining and learning with everybody’s favorite purple dinosaur, HIT Entertainment is pleased to announce the launch of the Barney® 25 Million Hugs campaign. Through the use of various social media platforms and a dedicated new microsite, fans of all ages can now send fun interactive hugs from Barney to family, friends, and followers. Barney has set a goal of sharing 25 million hugs and is asking for his fans to help. People around the world can begin spreading the love at www.ShareBarneyHugs.com.  In addition, to celebrate the Barney spirit of caring and sharing, a donation will be made to the Children’s Hospital Association.

“Barney has provided kids with fun and laughter for more than 25 years and has cemented his status as a pop culture icon who has always generously shared his love and hugs,” said Shari Donnenfeld, Vice President, Global Brands, HIT Entertainment. “We are celebrating Barney by creating a playful avenue that taps into the Barney nostalgia for fans of any age, and we are excited to join with fans around the world to extend our arms and reach our goal of 25 million hugs.”

Upon accessing www.ShareBarneyHugs.com, visitors are welcomed by Barney and encouraged to help the loveable huggable T-rex send dino-hugs to friends and followers by clicking the designated “Share A Hug” button.  To share hugs, fans can use their email, Twitter and Facebook accounts to send hugs to loved ones who will then receive a message to view their special Barney hug.  Fans can also get a hug for themselves from Barney by visiting the site.  Each hug brings Barney one step closer to achieving his goal!

With over 30 different customized hugs and messages, there is a hug for every occasion including birthdays, congratulations, thank you’s, get well wishes, veteran appreciation, and more.

The Barney 25 Million Hugs campaign and the ShareBarneyHugs.com website were created in partnership with Fuel™, an Ottawa and Los Angeles-based global youth engagement agency. Fuel builds exciting digital experiences for the world’s most-loved youth brands.

Since taking the preschool scene by storm in 1987, the Barney & Friends series has been a first television home for several stars including Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Madison Pettis.  Barney & Friends episodes are always filled with sharing, caring, imagining, dancing and learning and can be seen on PBS KIDS® and Sprout®. Fans can also connect with Barney on Facebook and Twitter @DinoMiteBarney. For more information about Barney and all his friends, please visit www.barney.com.

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading preschool entertainment companies, specializing in building powerful brands based on engaging stories.  HIT Entertainment’s world-class portfolio includes  Thomas & Friends®, Mike the Knight™, Fireman Sam®, Bob the Builder, Barney®, Angelina Ballerina®, Pingu® and Rainbow Magic®.

HIT Entertainment excels at creating and building globally successful brands which capture the hearts and imaginations of preschoolers and their families.  This is achieved through exceptional storytelling in multiple formats, enhanced by creating high quality character-based products and experiences with best-in-class partners. HIT Entertainment’s lines of business span television and home entertainment production, content distribution, digital media, publishing, consumer products and live events and attractions.  HIT Entertainment is a division of Fisher-Price and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. For more information visit www.hitentertainment.com.