CINCINNATI -- Kroger here teamed up with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and the Cincinnati Reds baseball team in a first-time, three-way effort to promote Alaska wild salmon.
At a home game this summer, Reds fans who hit the bleachers early enough received a colorful T-shirt with a picture of a cartoon character, "Slammin' Salmon," sporting a Reds cap and clutching a bat and ball as he surfs in from Alaska. An inscription over the surfing salmon said, "Get Wild!" The ASMI and Kroger logos also bedecked the shirts, which were free to the first 10,000 fans who attended the game that night.
Many Kroger employees were involved in the event at the stadium. Craig Carmen, seafood manager at Kroger's flagship Hyde Park store here, threw out the first pitch. The scoreboard carried a message, in big letters, from ASMI and Kroger about wild salmon.
Kroger has long been a sponsor of Reds games and has partnered with ASMI in some way each year to raise consumers' awareness of the availability of wild Alaskan salmon offered at its service seafood counters.
Radio and television spot ads announced the upcoming T-shirt giveaway at the game. Each ended with this message: "Don't miss out on getting wild with Slammin' Salmon from Kroger and Alaska Seafood."