Our customers look to us to help boost their family business. It’s a challenge we’re up for and one that we’re meeting with more creativity than ever! Contact us today – we’re taking orders and shipping boxes/pallets/truckloads of fun out the door every day.

Thank you so much to the attendees who stopped in to see and meet us at the NRA show. We truly enjoy every opportunity to get to know you and your needs better.

The new line of products and services can be ordered now through our web store or by contacting one of us.

Chicago, IL – May 05, 2012 – Today at the National Restaurant Show, Family Hospitality Group unveiled a suite of next-generation “digital” kids entertainment systems for use anywhere in public where kids need help to pass the time while waiting. The new product line is a literal game changer from the pattern of 31 years of print & color foodservice entertainment tracing its lineage to the McDonalds Happy Meal. Members of the media and restaurateurs are invited to the Technology Pavilion display to get hands-on in the name of fun.

The new “Classy Kids Digital Entertainment” options for restaurant fun include an iPad-like tablet (at a small fraction of the cost) trademarked “SPUDnik” in a nod to its foodservice roots. The tablet comes pre-loaded with a proprietary, “kiddified” operating system, and can be secured by a retractable cable that simultaneously allows some range of freedom and charges the device. In addition, customers can use a mobile device such as their iPhone or Android phone to access a link on the company’s ever-popular and patented triangular crayon packages (for restaurants offering the full experience) to a portal full of boredom-beating content, and third a unique smartphone holder that helps users access the fun while propping their smartphone up.

Regardless of access method, kids can now choose from classic e-books, tutorials, art simulators, syndicated cartoon episodes, and recognized games – each filtered by age. “We are delighted to be working with Family Hospitality in supplying award-winning animation and live action content for kids in restaurants to engage in,” said Kevin Gillis, CEO and Executive Producer of Skywriter Media and Entertainment Group.

Project leader AJ Mesalic said, “Our field testing has proven that these new Digital Entertainment access methods are built for foodservice, and that they raise the restaurant fun factor by about 10 notches! We’re applying our expertise in entertaining kids and systems engineering to enable companies like Denny’s to offer a better family dining experience than ever before.” The tablets are on sale now for $149.95 each plus optional subscription plans starting at $4.95 per month to access a fresh stream of content. The printed link to the Digital Entertainment portal is provided as a value-add to the company’s line of traditional print & color restaurant menus/games. Smartphone holders sell for $95 for 500.

Restaurant manager Doc Vranici said of the comprehensive CK Digital Entertainment system, “It’s remarkable how excited kids are about these new entertainment options. In just two days we started seeing families come back specifically so the kids could play on them while waiting. My staff and I haven’t had to do a bit more work and everyone’s happier.”

# # #

I agree with Todd Zywicki’s April 13 op-ed “SpongeBob SquarePants’ Last Stand” that the government should have a thoughtful and measured response to the childhood obesity crisis. But contrary to Mr. Zywicki’s statement, I have never called for—or even “hinted” support for—congressional action on food advertising to children, nor have my bipartisan colleagues.

In April 2011, pursuant to a bipartisan directive from Congress, the CDC, FDA, FTC and USDA released a draft set of principles to guide voluntary self-regulatory efforts for food marketing to children. The commission voted 5-0 to issue the draft for public comment, along with a statement supporting industry self-regulatory efforts.

Late last year, Congress made it clear in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 that it had changed its mind about the interagency effort, and my recent testimony before Congress acknowledged that “it’s probably time to move on” from any effort to finalize the draft principles.

The argument that the industry is under threat of mandatory regulations has been run into the sand, all the way to Bikini Bottom. The commission does not support legislation restricting food advertising to children.

Jon Leibowitz

Chairman

Federal Trade Commission

Washington

via Food Marketing to Children Policies – WSJ.com.

A San Francisco judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against McDonald’s over the restaurant chain’s marketing of its signature Happy Meals, according to court documents.

via Judge tosses Happy Meal lawsuit against McDonald’s | Reuters.

Sales among the 500 largest restaurant chains in the United States rose 3.4 percent to $242 billion in 2011, compared with a 1.8-percent increase in annual sales in 2010, according to new research from Chicago-based Technomic.

via Restaurant sales rose 3.4% in 2011 | Nation’s Restaurant News.

Meanwhile, sales at the public restaurant companies that we have the privilege of calling customers increased approximately 20% last year. Correlation or causality? Even if this correlation was coincidental, isn’t it instructive to study what the highest performing companies do?

Call us today to find out what we can do for your business, and find out why our company’s growth is also outpacing the industry.

PAHSTeacher  wrote:

Have you guys seen these triangle shaped crayons? �We visited Mommy at work yesterday, and the cafeteria gives each kid a 4 pack of triangle shaped crayons. �It’s nice because they don’t roll off of the table. �I looked online to see if you can buy them, but they only sell them in bulk. �360 4 pks for $68.

via Crayangles – *Spring 2009 Babies/ No negativity group* – BabyCenter.

Several members of the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program are participating in a school wellness initiative.

Click to read more: NRA’s Kids LiveWell restaurants support school wellness program – NRA News Blog.

“For the first time, 100 percent of our national marketing efforts to kids will include nutrition or active-lifestyle messages, a significant move in our ongoing commitment to children’s wellbeing,” Neil Golden, chief marketing officer for McDonald’s USA, said in a statement on Monday. “We are proud of this new approach and believe it will help make nutrition fun for kids while helping families feel even better about the food choices they make when visiting McDonald’s.”

via McDonald’s updates Happy Meal campaign | Nation’s Restaurant News. Click to see full story.

We believe all the kids meal changes at McDonald’s in the last two years show real leadership.  What do you think?

Kindness shown to kids pleases parents and onlookers alike. Perhaps this sentiment comes from these biblical roots:

Matthew 25:31-40

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

A customer of ours says that how they treat kids speaks volumes about their hospitality and their brand. How do you feel about this notion? Would you agree?

New Characters Will Pitch Nutrition for Line Criticized for Role in Childhood Obesity

McDonald’s is putting its embattled Happy Meal front and center with a national TV campaign expected to launch next week, Ad Age has learned.According to people familiar with the matter, the campaign will feature new characters and focus on nutrition, which has historically been a sore point with those who charge that Happy Meals contributed to an increase in childhood obesity. The campaign, which will most likely run periodically through 2012, was created by Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, Chicago.BloombergThe agency declined comment and referred calls to McDonald’s. A spokeswoman for McDonald’s did not provide details and said it was “premature to discuss a Happy Meals campaign.”The campaign is believed to be the first major TV push for Happy Meals since the chain began revamping the offering last fall with apple slices, fewer fries and a low-fat dairy option. The result is a 20% reduction in calories in what the chain calls its most popular Happy Meals.It appears to be a follow-up to a nutrition declaration the chain made around the time it unveiled the new kids’ meal. In a July press release the company said it would “raise nutrition awareness among children and parents through national marketing initiatives …

via McDonald’s to Launch Happy Meals Ads | News – Advertising Age.

Interested in the development of illustrated or animated characters for your own kids marketing?  Contact us about our custom branded kids’ marketing services.