'Celebrity Apprentice' serves up Walgreens walking papers in Walk with Walgreens promo

DEERFIELD, Ill. — With more than 4 billion steps logged by Walk with Walgreens participants in the program’s first year, Walgreens on Sunday night teamed with Donald Trump and "The Celebrity Apprentice" to promote more healthy steps in 2012. Walk with Walgreens also partnered with the Magic Johnson Foundation on Monday behind a national campaign where Walgreens retail locations will be selling a commemorative charity bracelet with $2 from each purchase benefitting the Magic Johnson Foundation.



The relationship was formed through Walgreens participation in "The Celebrity Apprentice" on NBC, where the “task” for celebrity contestants centered around the award-winning national Walk with Walgreens program and health movement. The winning celebrity team was led by Arsenio Hall, who had selected the Magic Johnson Foundation as his charity of choice to receive the $20,000 donation through the show. Walgreens provided an additional $30,000 donation and recognized an opportunity to work with the foundation to develop a larger, ongoing initiative to heighten awareness for its cause.



In addition to promoting the Walk with Walgreens program by producing an interactive health segment, celebrities were tasked with designing the packaging for a new Walk with Walgreens starter kit, which includes a pedometer and drawstring athletic bag. The kits are free with registration while supplies last and available beginning Monday at Walgreens stores nationwide, including all Duane Reade stores in New York and New Jersey.



“We’re proud of the great strides Walgreens customers and employees have made toward healthier living, and this was a unique opportunity to bring greater awareness to our walking program and its healthy rewards,” stated Joe Magnacca, Walgreens president of daily living products and solutions. “Working with Donald Trump and 'The Celebrity Apprentice,' we brought two innovative brands together to create a new and easy way for our customers to join the movement.”



Magnacca had a role in the show along with Mark Wagner, Walgreens president of operations and community management. The two Walgreens executives helped present the task to celebrity teams and provide background on Walk with Walgreens overall objectives. In addition to bringing a new look and feel to the program for its second year, the company aims to get more rewards to its members to help them save on products in its stores.



“Over the last 12 months, we’ve engaged hundreds of thousands of people in communities across America and our neighborhood drugstores, to walk, log and get rewards,” Wagner said. “We look forward to a greater awareness translating into more people taking more steps on the road to better health in 2012 and for many years to come.”



The winning celebrity team, which designed the new kits and whose likeness is featured on them, includes Hall, Clay Aiken, Paul Teutel, Sr., Aubrey O’Day and Teresa Giudice. Those new kits are not part of an April contest supporting Walk with Walgreens. Walgreens celebrity spokeswoman shares details on the contest in a video featured on YouTube.

Walgreens and content-creation agency Starcom MediaVest Group’s LiquidThread produced custom creative messaging to run during commercial time within the broadcast. This unique creative execution featured Arsenio Hall and Walk with Walgreens spokesperson Alison Sweeney encouraging viewers to pick up their free kit and join the movement.