FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Haywood County Tomatoes Travel the Internet

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. - Jan. 31, 2008 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Haywood County
tomatoes are now traveling worldwide, thanks to a short web-based video
recently produced by the Buy Haywood Market Development Project.
*(PHOTO 72dpi: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/08-0131-HaywoodSS_72dpi.jpg)
*(Photo Caption: Still image from Haywood County tomato video.)

*(LOGO 72dpi: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/08-0131-HaywoodCO_72dpi.jpg)

More and more, people are receiving messages that communicate "thousands of
miles fresher," "buy local," and "support sustainable agriculture." Often
these messages are on bumper stickers or in print ads, but the Buy Haywood
project has taken these ideas to the next level with the assistance of the
World Wide Web.
While the Buy Haywood project often draws parallels with other place-based
promotional efforts, like Vidalia Onions, this new marketing effort has more
in common with the California Raisin ads from years ago, including music,
humor, and animated produce.

"We wanted to try a more creative approach to promoting our local farm
products," said George Ivey, Coordinator of the Buy Haywood project. "We have
always had excellent soils, hard-working farmers, and great-tasting produce,
but what we need to make a difference in our sales and marketing efforts might
really be cartoon tomatoes and YouTube."

The video was produced locally by Stellar Media, which aims to provide
animation at an affordable price for nonprofits as well as businesses. "In
this case, animation allowed us to take some serious issues and present them
in a humorous and hopefully memorable way," said Eric Larson, President of
Stellar Media. "Posting the video on the web will also help the project reach
many new and different audiences."
The voices for the video are also local, with Kristin Yarborough and Mark
Terry narrating the 80-second video. A shorter, 30-second version has also
been produced with possible television use in mind. The video can be seen
online at www.buyhaywood.com, www.stellarmediaonline.com, and
www.youtube.com/BuyHaywood.

The Buy Haywood Market Development Project seeks to improve awareness,

interest, and sales of fruits, vegetables, and other farm products grown in
Haywood County, North Carolina. The project is managed by the Haywood County
Economic Development Commission, and it receives support from the Golden LEAF
Foundation.
Buy Haywood Market Development Project
c/o Haywood County Economic Development Commission
144 Industrial Park Drive
Waynesville, NC 28786
828-456-3737 phone, 828-452-1352 fax

Video and this news release may be viewed together at:

http://send2press.com/newswire/2008-01-0131-004.shtml

Send2Press(R) is the originating wire service for this story -

www.Send2Press.com

All trademarks acknowledged.

NEWS SOURCE: Buy Haywood Market Development Project

# # #
/RELEASE END/
 MEDIA CONTACT(S):
[ not for publication online or in print ]

George Ivey
Buy Haywood Market Development Project
+1-828-712-6474
georgeivey @ earthlink.net

/Note to editors:
An image from the video is available as a TIFF file
and will be sent on request

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Release PDF:
http://www.send2press.com/mediadrome/news_2008-01-0131-004.pdf
Story Permalink:
http://www.Send2Press.com/mediadrome/2008-01-0131-004.txt

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January 2008 // Press Release / S-REG SE 2PH / PRT=YES/SING
Agency = Write Away