Care to roast a virtual turkey? Ad agency puts an Internet spin on annual holiday greeting cards

Business Wire, Dec 14, 1995

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 1995--Instead of sending out greeting cards with tranquil, snowy scenes, Hajjar/Kaufman Advertising, of Marina del Rey, chose a less traditional route this year.

Their greeting cards simply contain the Internet address to their holiday World Wide Web site, where visitors can try their hand at roasting a ``virtual'' holiday turkey, race digital reindeer, or hear the agency sing holiday favorites. The site is located at http://peace-on-earth.hkweb.com on the World Wide Web.

Virtual turkey roasting is turning out to be one of the site's top attractions. According to Hajjar/Kaufman's creative director, Adam Kaufman, ``One wrong twist of the oven dial and your bird bursts into flames in glorious color.''

Hajjar/Kaufman's president, Norman Hajjar, used a computer to arrange the music for the on-line holiday carols. ``We think this is the first cyber carol-on-demand system ever created for the Internet,'' Hajjar added.

One of Hajjar/Kaufman's designers, Dan Nemmers, came up with the idea for digital reindeer races. ``We give folks a chance to pick a reindeer based on past performance; then they get to actually watch a race as it happens,'' added Nemmers.

Hajjar/Kaufman Advertising was founded in 1992 by Norman Hajjar and Adam Kaufman. It bills $25 million per year and works with clients that include Canon Computer Systems Inc., Nissin Foods and Santa Monica Bank. In 1994, Hajjar/Kaufman established its New Media Lab, which develops Internet presences for clients that include Canon U.S.A. (http://www.usa.canon.com) and Santa Monica Bank (http://smbank.com/bank).

Hajjar/Kaufman's New Media Lab also created Radio HK (http://radiohk.com/radio), the first radio station to broadcast full-time, in real-time exclusively into the Internet. Radio HK is estimated to have been heard by more than 100,000 people in 46 countries worldwide.

CONTACT: Hajjar/Kaufman Advertising, Marina del Rey

Norman Hajjar, 310/305-8128

Internet: norman_hajjar@hk.com