Pizza Gang

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Yum! Brands, parent of franchise chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, recently launched its annual World Hunger Relief campaign, this year teaming with multi-Grammy Award winner and pop superstar Christina Aguilera as the spokeswoman.

World Hunger Relief spans 110 countries, 36,000 KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food restaurants and over 1 million employees. It is targeted to raise awareness, volunteerism and funds for the United Nations World Food Programme and other hunger relief agencies.

Aguilera is raising awareness of the hunger issue by appearing in the World Hunger Relief campaign’s new global public service announcement and advertisement, made possible by KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, that started airing at the end of September. The black and white public service announcement captures Aguilera, accompanied by a guitarist, attracting a crowd on a busy corner in Los Angeles as she sings her son “Beautiful” to raise money for hunger relief.

Aguilera will also appear in World Hunger Relief restaurant posters with the quote, “Together, we have the power to save lives and go from hunger to hope” and online efforts, including the campaign’s Web site FromHungertoHope.com. Consumers can log on to the campaign’s web site or go to any KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s or A&W All-American Food restaurant to donate (no purchase necessary).

Global hunger has reached epic proportions this year – with more than 1 billion hungry people around the world – due to the convergence of the global economic slowdown; high food prices; increased competition for products that produce energy; severe droughts and floods due to climate change; and increasing demand from growing economies in Asia and South America.

“As a mother, I think it’s unacceptable that a child dies every six seconds somewhere around the world from hunger and I want to do something about it,” said Aguilera. “By lending my voice in the new PSA for World Hunger Relief, I hope to raise even more awareness about the issue and move millions of people from hunger to hope.”

Christina Aguilera is one of the most successful recording artists of the past decade, selling more than 42 million records worldwide. Aguilera’s 1999 self–titled debut album spawned three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Aguilera has won four GRAMMY Awards and one Latin GRAMMY Award.

“As a society, we should not tolerate that global hunger is worse than ever this year with more than 1 billion people going to bed hungry every day,” said David Novak, chairman and chief executive officer of Yum! Brands Inc. “We are thankful for Christina’s passion to join us in the fight against hunger and help us raise attention to this critical issue and save millions of lives. We believe it is our privilege and responsibility to find a meaningful solution to this problem.”

Novak, the presidents from KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, other senior executives and franchise leaders traveled to El Salvador in August to see World Food Programme’s relief efforts. Yum! is announcing that it will donate the first $1 million it raises this year to El Salvador.

Yum! is also co-leading the Business Council to End Global Hunger. The new effort will encourage trade associations, companies and other private sector entities in the United States to support the Roadmap to End Global Hunger – an advocacy initiative laying out a comprehensive strategy for the U.S. government to set the stage for a permanent end to global hunger and poverty, according to the company.

World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide and the United Nations’ frontline agency for hunger solutions. In 2009, WFP aims to feed 108 million people in 74 countries. Due to funding shortfalls, the organization has said it is being forced to reduce, and in some cases, cut food rations to the world’s hungry.

“World Food Programme knows how to reach those most in need and will do what it takes to get a cup of food to any kid in the world,” said World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “But without funding, we can’t reach these kids. It takes just 25 cents to fill a cup with food. The World Hunger Relief campaign helps fill the cup for tens of thousands of kids – and we’re so grateful for it.”

This year, Yum! plans to generate the equivalent of nearly $50 million in awareness of the hunger issue through a PSA, advertising, public relations, web-based communications and in-restaurant posters. The company’s employees and franchisees will be volunteering their time around the globe at hunger relief agencies, food banks, soup kitchens and launching fundraisers.

Since World Hunger Relief launched in 2007, more than 1 million of the Yum!’s employees, franchisees and their families have volunteered more than 9 million hours to aid hunger relief efforts in communities worldwide.

The effort has raised $36 million for World Food Programme and other hunger relief organizations and is helping to provide approximately 160 million meals and save the lives of about 4 million people in remote corners of the world.

Yum! Brands based in Louisville, Ky., is the world’s largest restaurant company in terms of system restaurants, with more than 36,000 restaurants in over 110 countries and territories. The company had revenue in excess of $11 billion in 2008.

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