Every year, Olympic Hot Tub Company invites the children of its customers to draw original art to serve as the company's annual holiday card and offers the winner a $100 prize and a box of custom cards to share with family and friends. This year, the company decided to alert the local media about the winner's clever creation, and big ink resulted.
It was the story behind the winning entry helped the 9-year-old artist earn front page coverage in her hometown newspaper. Here is the text to the November 21 Arlington Times story:
“Why Santa Leaves Hot Tubs on Decks” by Amy Cedarholm has been selected by the Olympic Hot Tub Company for its holiday card this year. A 9-year-old fourth-grader at Cascade Elementary School in Marysville, Cedarholm portrayed Santa scratching his head, trying to figure out how to bring the hot tub — complete with rubber duckie — down the chimney. Each year Olympic Hot Tub invites the children of its customers to create an illustration for the company to use on its holiday card. Amy’s mother, Susan Cedarholm, said that Amy loves art and designs clothing for fun and she really enjoys the hot tub, too. Her teacher is Theresa Randall. Amy told her mother that she was inspired to enter the contest by her older brother who also won the contest, five years ago when he was 10. He is now in the culinary arts tract at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Along with receiving 50 copies of the holiday card, Amy also won $100. Amy has another older brother at M-PHS named Tim. The family received notice of the award soon after Amy’s father died of complications due to pneumonia, and it cheered them all up a little, said Susan Cedarholm.
This story offered a powerful visual, a local and very heart-warming story, and a timely hook. That's a powerful recipe for local publicity success.
