Los Angeles – JAZZ™ apples are joining an epic adventure thanks to an exclusive new partnership with the highly anticipated new DreamWorks Animation film, Spirit Untamed. The film, which arrives in theaters June 4, 2021, is the next chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved franchise that began with the 2002 Oscar-nominated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and includes an Emmy-winning TV series.
Apples are core to the story narrative of Spirit Untamed, which will hopefully encourage children and families to eat more JAZZ™ apples and other healthy produce. With retail partners nationwide this spring, JAZZ™ apples will promote the film with custom package artwork that depicts two of the film’s heroes: Lucky, a headstrong girl, and the wild stallion Spirit, whom she befriends. In the artwork, Lucky rides a galloping Spirit while holding an apple. The co-branded on-pack and point-of-sale material will highlight the partnership with 2 lb. pouch bags, tote bags, Kwiklok tags and more for use in-store and in e-commerce activations.
“We were thrilled when DreamWorks Animation approached us with this opportunity for JAZZ™ apples,” said Cecilia Flores Paez, T&G Global’s head of marketing, North America. “Apples help forge the bond of friendship between Lucky and Spirit, and we couldn’t have asked for a better, or healthier, message to communicate with families. As revealed in the recent Produce for Better Health Foundation’s ‘State of the Plate’ report, nine out of 10 Americans don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables each day. JAZZ™ apples wants to help turn this around by stirring children’s imagination and promoting JAZZ™ as a delicious and refreshing snack.”
Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, president and CEO of Produce for Better Health Foundation notes, “With most Americans, including young children, eating fruit fewer than one time per day, these types of innovative partnerships make it easy for families to find and select produce. And by offering simple tips to help families have fun with fruit and vegetables in the kitchen together, we can improve consumption and build healthy habits that last a lifetime.”
DreamWorks Animation is happy to lend its support to JAZZ™’s vital effort to increase children’s fresh produce consumption.
In addition to co-branded packaging and in-store promotions, the partnership will drive shoppers to stores with JAZZ™ apples on their lists, thanks to additional amplification via public relations, social media and a robust digital ad campaign that includes YouTube pre-roll ads. A dedicated website at jazzapplemovie.com will feature a store locator, Spirit Untamed-themed kids’ activities and a signature kid-friendly recipe inspired by the movie: a simple-yet-delicious “Epic Adventure Snack” featuring JAZZ™ apples sliced into horseshoe shapes topped with chocolate hazelnut spread and sprinkles. The promotion is expected to reach hundreds of millions of consumers nationwide.
“The partnership provides JAZZ™ apples with a great opportunity to draw kids back to the apple category and help instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime,” says Flores Paez. “With their naturally small, snackable size and refreshingly tangy-sweet flavor, they are a prefect pick for a kids’ promotion. We are proud that DreamWorks Animation recognizes the value JAZZ™ apples bring to its Spirit fans, and we look forward to an ‘epic adventure’ and successful partnership this spring!”
JAZZ™ apples are marketed by CMI Orchards, Rainier Fruit Co. and Oppy.
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About T&G Global: T&G Global works with passionate growers around the world to produce, sell and deliver the highest quality fruit and vegetables. We love our food, so we’re constantly exploring ways to make it more sustainable, fresh and delicious, to help people lead healthier lifestyles. T&G is a leader in the premium apple segment with its Envy™ and JAZZ™ branded varieties.
About JAZZ™: JAZZ™ is a trademarked brand that refers to the Scifresh apple variety. It was developed in New Zealand by Plant and Food Research and was patented in 2003, the same year T&G, which owns the JAZZ™ trademark, began distributing in the U.S. via its marketing partner Oppy. JAZZ™ is now grown under license by T&G in New Zealand, the U.S., Chile, Asia, the UK, France and Australia. JAZZ™ is marketed in the U.S. by Oppy, CMI Orchards and Rainier Fruit Company.
About Spirit Untamed
Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) never really knew her late mother, Milagro Navarro (Eiza González, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), a fearless horse-riding stunt performer from Miradero, a small town on the edge of the wide-open frontier.
Like her mother, Lucky isn’t exactly a fan of rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora (Academy Award® winner Julianne Moore) no small amount of worry. Lucky has grown up in an East Coast city under Cora’s watchful eye, but when Lucky presses her own luck with one too many risky escapades, Cora picks up stakes and moves them both back with Lucky’s father, Jim (Oscar® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal), in Miradero.
Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy little town. She has a change of heart when she meets Spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her independent streak, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone (Mckenna Grace, Captain Marvel) and Pru Granger (Marsai Martin, Little). Pru’s father, stable owner Al Granger (Emmy winner Andre Braugher, Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine), is the best friend of Lucky’s father.
When a heartless horse wrangler (Emmy nominee Walton Goggins, FX’s Justified) and his team plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends and bravely embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has given her freedom and a sense of purpose, and has helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother’s legacy and to her Mexican heritage that she never expected.
Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved franchise that began with the 2002 Oscar-nominated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and includes an Emmy-winning TV series. The film is directed by Elaine Bogan (Netflix and DreamWorks Animation Television’s Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia) and is produced by Karen Foster (co-producer, How to Train Your Dragon). The film’s co-director is Ennio Torresan (head of story, The Boss Baby), and the film’s score is by composer Amie Doherty (Amazon’s Undone, DreamWorks Animation’s Marooned).
