Folgers® Jingle Contest Grand Prize Winner Announced in Times Square

ORRVILLE, Ohio, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Courtney R. from Gloucester, MA was announced as the Grand Prize winner in the 2011 Folgers® Jingle Contest. The aspiring artist from Massachusetts performed her rendition of The Best Part of Wakin' Up™ jingle live in front of a panel of judges including music industry mogul and Bravo's songwriting competition series' Platinum Hit head judge, Kara DioGuardi.  The winner was awarded $25,000, a music mentoring session and the chance to appear in a future Folgers Coffee commercial.  

Runners-Up:

• Charles M. from Springfield, MO
• Dorrell E. from Mesa, AZ
• Jered L. from Ft. Collins, CO
• John P. from North Port, FL

"I was amazed by the sheer talent and creativity demonstrated by today's top five performances," said DioGuardi.  "Courtney did a great job putting her unique spin on the Folgers jingle.  I'm looking forward to sharing some advice as she takes the next step in her musical career."

Visit www.bestpartofwakinup.com to view the finalists' original entries.

About the Contest

Thousands of creative musicians from across the country shared their unique spin on the Folgers jingle from January 19 through March 1, 2011. Qualified entries underwent an initial round of judging based on creativity/originality, musical performance and adherence to creative assignment and were then narrowed down to a group of ten semi-finalists.  From March 31 through April 25, 2011, the top ten semi-finalist entries were posted to www.bestpartofwakinup.com for a public online vote.  The top five finalists were determined based on points awarded from both the initial judging round and online vote totals.  The Grand Prize Winning rendition of the Folgers jingle received the highest overall scores based on their musical performance, stage presence and creativity/originality after the five contest finalists took the stage in New York City to showcase their version of the iconic jingle.  

About The J.M. Smucker Company

For more than 110 years, The J.M. Smucker Company has been committed to offering consumers quality products that bring families together to share memorable meals and moments.  Today, Smucker is a leading marketer and manufacturer of fruit spreads, retail packaged coffee, peanut butter, shortening and oils, ice cream toppings, sweetened condensed milk, and health and natural foods beverages in North America. Its family of brands includes Smucker's®, Folgers®, Dunkin' Donuts®, Jif®, Crisco®, Pillsbury®, Eagle Brand®, R.W. Knudsen Family®, Hungry Jack®, Cafe Bustelo®, Café Pilon, White Lily® and Martha White® in the United States, along with Robin Hood®, Five Roses®, Carnation®, Europe's Best® and Bick's® in Canada. The Company remains rooted in the Basic Beliefs of Quality, People, Ethics, Growth and Independence established by its founder and namesake more than a century ago. The Company has appeared on FORTUNE Magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the United States 13 times, ranking number one in 2004. For more information about the Company, visit www.smuckers.com.

The J.M. Smucker Company is the owner of all trademarks, except Pillsbury, the Barrelhead logo and the Doughboy character are trademarks of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license; Carnation is a trademark of Societe des Produits Nestle S.A., used under license; and Dunkin' Donuts is a registered trademark of DD IP Holder, LLC, used under license. Borden and Elsie are trademarks used under license.

Bravo is a trademark of Bravo Media, LLC.

SOURCE The Folger Coffee Company