Verizon Wireless And Dunkin' Donuts Serving Up "Breakfast With Bledsoe"

ROCHESTER, NY — Fifty contest winners and their guests will enjoy breakfast with Buffalo Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe courtesy of Verizon Wireless and Dunkin' Donuts. Winners were selected at random from entries received as part of a joint promotion conducted by the two companies across Upstate New York. The breakfast will take place in the Paul Maguire Club at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Monday, November 11, 2002. Dunkin' Donuts will cater the breakfast.

The date of the breakfast, November 11 (11/11), was selected by Bledsoe who wears number 11 for the Bills. The contest was open to fans in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton, Elmira and Utica.

"Drew Bledsoe is the hottest quarterback in the NFL this season," said John Palmer, president of Verizon Wireless' Upstate New York Region. "What better way to promote our products and services than to work with Drew and the people at Dunkin' Donuts to make this opportunity available to Bills fans across Western and Central New York."

"Dunkin' Donuts, Verizon Wireless, and the Buffalo Bills are three of the most recognizable brands in Upstate New York," said Skip Weldon, Field Marketing Director, Dunkin' Donuts. "This promotion allowed us to leverage that brand awareness to promote our products and drive traffic to our locations."

To enter, contestants answered Drew Bledsoe trivia questions on Verizon Wireless phones via text messaging or via mail-in postcard. Winners were selected at random from all entries submitted.

"This promotion was unique in that it helped wireless users become familiar with the ease and convenience of communicating via an emerging wireless technology: text messaging," said Palmer. According to Palmer, text messaging is already a common way to communicate in Europe and Asia and nearly 1 billion text messages were sent by U.S. wireless subscribers in the first six months of 2002.

"Joint promotions such as this give both companies the opportunity to reach their own customers, as well as those of the partnering company," said Weldon. "It's a very effective way to expand our customer base."

In addition to the 50 grand prizes of Breakfast with Bledsoe, 10 second prizes of Bledsoe autographed football jerseys, 14 third prizes of tickets to a Bills home game and a Dunkin' Donuts "Be My Guest" card, five third prizes of Verizon Wireless/Dunkin' Donuts Gift Packs featuring a Verizon Wireless FreeUp prepaid phone package and a Dunkin Donuts "Be My Guest" card, and 35 fourth prizes of a Verizon Wireless water bottle and Dunkin' Donuts "Be My Guest" card were also awarded.

About Dunkin' Donuts, Inc.

Dunkin' Donuts is the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world, providing its loyal customers with high quality coffee, bagels, donuts and other related baked goods since 1950. With more than 5,000 combined locations in the United States and 31 other countries, Dunkin' Donuts has established a worldwide reputation for quality, freshness and convenience. Dunkin' Donuts is based in Randolph, MA and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Domecq (NYSE: AED).

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the nation's leading provider of wireless communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice and data network and 31.5 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com.

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