SAN DIEGO – The WD-40® Smart Straw® is hitting the road with the WD-40 Ultimate Work Truck on The Last Straw Tour to educate consumers about the product’s many uses and new permanently attached straw – the last straw your can of WD-40 will ever need – and help increase awareness for Rebuilding Together®, a national nonprofit organization that provides free home repair and renovations for low-income homeowners.
The tour begins July 31 in Homewood, Ala. and will make stops at retail outlets throughout Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Arkansas before heading west to make an appearance at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, Nov. 4-7 in Las Vegas.
At each tour stop, WD-40 fans will get a chance to play WD-40-related trivia games, interact with the WD-40 task force, win prizes and learn about the innovative Smart Straw design. The new straw can be flipped down for a wide spray or flipped up for a pinpoint stream to apply WD-40 into hard-to-reach areas, and ensures consumers never lose the little red straw again. Fans can also enter to win $50 gas cards daily or a grand-prize smart® fortwo – on display at each of The Last Straw Tour stops – by entering on-site or clicking the Smart Straw Sweepstakes icon at wd40.com.
The WD-40 Ultimate Work Truck is a 2008 GMC Sierra built on the television show, Xtreme 4X4, part of the PowerBlock on Spike TV. The show’s hosts, Ian Johnson and Jessi Combs, gave the stock truck a lift kit, power enhancers and big rig tires so it would be able to tow the massive mobile versatility center along The Last Straw Tour. The truck will be auctioned off on eBay® during the SEMA Show, with the proceeds benefiting Rebuilding Together, whose local chapter representatives will be present at select locations along The Last Straw Tour route.
WD-40 Company and PowerBlock have also partnered together to develop The Last Straw, a contest site and interactive online community at wd40.powerblocktv.com, where WD-40 fans can submit videos and photos of their favorite uses for the product for a chance to win weekly giveaways and a grand-prize $5,000 Matco toolbox.
The Last Straw Tour will include tour stops at local Lowe’s retail locations, which will also feature WD-40 displays in select stores.
For more information about the tour, visit wd40.com/last-straw. Fans are also encouraged to join the Official WD-40 Fan Club, now more than 115,000 members strong, and take a look at the list of 2,000-plus uses of WD-40 at wd40.com/uses-tips.
About WD-40 Company
WD-40 Company, with headquarters in San Diego, is a global consumer products company dedicated to building brand equities that are first or second choice in their respective categories. The company will leverage and build the brand fortress of WD-40 Company by developing and acquiring brands that deliver a unique high value to end users and that can be distributed across multiple trade channels in one or more areas of the world. WD-40 Company produces multi-purpose lubricants, WD-40® and 3-IN-ONE®, the Lava® and Solvol® brands of heavy-duty hand cleaners, and household products 2000 Flushes®, X-14®, Carpet Fresh®, Spot Shot® and 1001®. WD-40 Company markets its products in more than 160 countries worldwide and recorded sales of $307.8 million in 2007. Additional information about WD-40 Company can be obtained online at www.wd40company.com.
About Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together is the nation's largest nonprofit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providing home repair and renovation services free of charge to those in need. Through the support of corporate sponsors, local businesses and the hands-on work of over 200,000 volunteers, the organization renovates and repairs nearly 10,000 homes and nonprofit facilities annually with a market value of nearly $100 million. Rebuilding Together has over 200 affiliates and recently celebrated the completion of its 100,000th project. For more information, visit www.RebuildingTogether.org.
About RTM Productions
Established in 1989 by Executive Producers Patty and Joe St. Lawrence, RTM Productions is a full-service television production company specializing in automotive, outdoor, and entertainment programming. RTM and its staff have received production and broadcast industry awards including thirteen Emmy awards, The Gabriel Award, PM National Award, UPI Award, Telly Award, ITVA Silver Reel Award, John F. Kennedy Award, Unity Award, National Press Photographer Award, National headliner Award, OWW Excellence in Craft Award, and Communicator Award.
