Fred Flintstone 'Trusts the Midas Touch' in New Midas Spot

CHICAGO--Oct. 1, 20053, 2005--Two of the earliest automobile drivers - Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble - appear in a new commercial for automotive services provider Midas as part of its "Trust the Midas Touch" campaign.

In the spot, Fred and Barney appear in a Midas shop with questions for the Midas mechanic, "Is it true you do more brake jobs than anyone else and you guarantee all of your work?" asks Fred. A mechanic responds that Midas is the #1 brake repair provider with two million jobs annually and confirms the Midas lifetime guarantee then pauses to ask, "Do you smell something burning?" Barney quickly quips that the smell is Fred's sore, red feet - his old brakes. The spot ends with the famous "Trust the Midas Touch" tagline sung by Fred and Barney.

"Ouch! my feet hurt thinking about Fred's old brakes," said Rick Dow, Chief Marketing Officer at Midas. "As America's leader in brakes, we know how to keep Fred and Barney safe on the road for a long, long time. Fred and Barney can trust the Midas touch."

"Fred has the most famous pair of 'brakes' in the world and this spot cleverly combines the entertainment equity of The Flintstones with the Midas service message," said Jordan Sollitto, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and International Licensing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products.

Advertising agency DDB Chicago blended the animation with real footage, mirroring the set-up of other "Trust the Midas" spots, but casting Fred and Barney as the customer. Representing Midas, DDB Chicago worked closely with Warner Bros. Consumer Products who handles the licensing of the Hanna Barbera library of characters including The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and The Jetsons, among others. Warner Bros. Animation created the animation for the spot.

"We wanted to communicate Midas' brake leadership, and work within our existing campaign format that features customers questioning Midas mechanics about their expertise and trustworthiness. Fred provides a unique spin on the customer, and with those sore feet, who else would want new brakes more than him?" said Don Pogany, Group Creative Director at DDB Chicago.

About Midas

Midas is one of the world's largest providers of automotive service and America's leading provider of brake services, offering brake, exhaust, maintenance, tires, steering and suspension services at more than 2,600 franchised, licensed and company-owned Midas shops in 19 countries, including 1,800 in the United States and Canada.

About DDB Chicago

DDB Chicago is the largest DDB agency and is one of the world's most awarded agencies in terms of creativity and effectiveness. Named Agency of the Year by the Clio Awards in both 2003 and 2004, DDB Chicago works for a strong roster of blue-chip clients including Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, Dell, State Farm, OfficeMax, JCPenney, Capital One, The Home Depot, Midas, The Chicago Tribune and Dairy Management Inc.

About DDB Worldwide

DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com), Adweek's Global Agency Network of the Year for the second year in a row, is one of the leading advertising agency networks in the world with 206 offices in 96 countries. Acknowledged as the industry's most creative multinational network, DDB Worldwide has won more Grand Prix Awards in the history of the International Advertising Festival in Cannes than any other agency and for the last 17 years more total awards than any other agency network. During the 52nd Cannes festival in 2005, DDB Chicago won the Grand Prix in the radio category and DDB Brasil the Cyber Grand Prix, while the network took home the most awards across all categories. For 2004, DDB was named the Most Awarded Agency Network in the World by the Gunn Report. The network has also been recognized at the Clio Awards, winning Network Agency of the Year four of the last five years, and by Advertising Age in 1998 and 2004 as Global Agency Network of the Year.

About Warner Bros. Consumer Products

Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

THE FLINTSTONES and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and (C) Hanna-Barbera.

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