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How to Use PR and Product Placement Positvely to Promote a new Product

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Former Minneapolis Fire Chief: A First Responder in I-35W Bridge Collapse;

Coordinates Helping Hand Contribution of Soapopular Hand Sanitizers

Minneapolis, MN, Aug 8, 2007-- Former Minneapolis Fire Department Chief Bonnie Bleskachek, an embattled hero to many in the Minneapolis community, hasn't allowed recent personal controversy to stand in the way of helping Minnesota citizens in times of crisis.

Bleskachek, a career firefighter who, in 2004 was celebrated nationwide for being one of the country’s few women to be appointed Chief of a major US city fire department, only to be demoted two years later after becoming embroiled in a political firestorm, is one of the many heroes emerging in Minneapolis’s I-35W bridge collapse.

Since the August 1 catastrophe first occurred, Bleskachek has been working tirelessly by coordinating volunteer and emergency supply logistics, and she was the first to respond to an unsolicited call from a Connecticut company offering to contribute a shipment of Soapopular, a new, alcohol-free hand sanitizer, for emergency workers at the disaster scene.

Pedro Mata, a partner of Mata Global Solutions, the Connecticut import firm that distributes Soapopular throughout the United States, stated, “Last week’s catastrophe struck a particular chord with us, as we had just returned from a planning session in Minneapolis with executives from Target, Inc., and we were immediately compelled to do whatever we could to help the emergency workers on site.”

According to Bonnie Bleskachek, Former Fire Chief of the Minneapolis Fire Department, and now coordinating disaster relief efforts, “All helping hands are being welcomed by our community, and the hand sanitizers contributed by Soapopular are particularly appreciated.”

Soapopular is one of few, next generation, alcohol-free hand sanitizer products that have been introduced since national news media first began reporting about the side effects of typical hand sanitizer products, including more than 12,000 cases of child-related, alcohol-poisoning cases directly attributed to generic products such as Purell and other brands, which account for more than 95% of the country’s hand

sanitizer market. FDA-approved, Soapopular’s active ingredients provide the same bacteria and germ killing efficacy as more widely-known alcohol-based products, but, unlike most hand sanitizers on the market today, Soapopular is non-toxic, non-flammable, antiseptic, hypoallergenic, kid safe, fragrance fee, and because its alcohol-free, it doesn’t cause hands to dry or become irritated with prolonged use.

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For Additional Information

203.255.0034

http://www.MGSmata.com

http://www.Soapopular-USA.com

How To Qualify a Client

Exactly 8 days ago, my firm received an unsolicited call requesting a sponsorship sales proposal for an event in Las Vegas that would be hosting 2000+ "top gun sales execs" making 250k+ per year.
Despite my being leery as to how many sponsors really want to pay to be in front of sales people--who are notorious for being tough sells themselves, "What do these sales execs sell?", I asked. Reply: "Oh--We're one of the top mortgage sales companies in the US." And they were--NYSE listed American Home Mortgatge

Why would they need sponsors to help underwrite a sales event for their brokers? Gee.. Massive company ringing the cash register with commissions every day..You'd think they could pay for their own party, even if it cost them about $4million a year for this one week seminar/boondoggle in LV....It took a few bangs of my head against the wall to conclude that they were about to go down the tube--just like a bunch of other financial service companies being dragged down by the Real Estate Epidemic thats been cratering the mortgage markets

Mortgage sales company seeking help to defray costs of big party...mmmm...sounds a bit dicey, but....We submitted a comprehensive proposal on Thursday night (thinking that we knew at least 10-12 companies that would want to have the opportunity to be in front of top gun sales people making mid six figures)

Two days later, the company announced they were cutting their dividend, the day after that the stock was halted for trading, and today (one week later), they announced they'd be firing 7000 employees, leaving a skeleton staff of 750 and bankruptcy filing would be taking place shortly.
So much for the boondoggle in Vegas...

As a former trader, the first sign was the most obvious-I should have shorted the stock as soon as I was briefed on the client and what they were hoping to accomplish.