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Sunsweet's 'Plum Crazy' Volkswagen Beetle Lands in Alpharetta

13 May 1999

Sunsweet's 'Plum Crazy' Volkswagen Beetle Lands in Alpharetta SUNSWEET PLUM CRAZY VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE Sunsweet's "Plum Crazy" Volkswagen Beetle Lands in Alpharetta. Alpharetta resident Anthony Murphy, 44, takes his 1999 one-of-a-kind plum-colored Volkswagen Beetle for a test drive in the Alpharetta Kroger parking lot on Tuesday after winning it in the Sunsweet "Plum Crazy for Prunes" contest. Murphy's entry was chosen out of 700,000 mail-in entries. Contact: Janet Greenlee, Fleishman-Hillard, 916-441-7606. (PRNewsFoto)[DM] ALPHARETTA, GA USA 05/13/1999     
    ALPHARETTA, Ga., May 13 -- Although Georgia is the Peach
State, Alpharetta, Ga., was the plum crazy city on Tuesday, May 11, thanks to
Sunsweet Prunes.
           (http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990513/ATTH006 )
    In a ceremony that included Alpharetta Mayor Chuck Martin and Sunsweet
Growers Chairman Gus Collin, Alpharetta resident Anthony Murphy was awarded
the key to his new 1999 plum-colored Volkswagen Beetle.  Murphy won the
custom-painted car in the "Plum Crazy for Prunes" national contest sponsored
by California-based Sunsweet Growers.  His entry was randomly selected from
more than 700,000 entries.
    "I love prunes and I love my new plum crazy beetle," said Murphy during
the presentation.  He admits to entering approximately one or two contests
each Sunday, depending on which advertisements appeal to him most.  "My
friends would laugh at my occasional prize of a T-shirt or mug," he said.
"They're not laughing now."
    Prior to the award presentation, a custom semi-truck paraded the Sunsweet
Volkswagen throughout the Southeast on a 15-day road trip that included
appearances at supermarkets in five cities:  Miami, Charlotte, San Antonio,
Houston and Alpharetta.  The highly visible truck also made stops at Disney
World, Dollywood, the Grand Ole Opry and the Alamo before making its way to
the Alpharetta Kroger parking lot for the final award ceremony.
    "Everyone at Sunsweet is crazy about prunes, which inspired this
lighthearted venture," said Collin. "We want people to think of Sunsweet
prunes as fun snacks that are convenient and healthy."
    Sunsweet Growers Inc. is a California-based cooperative of
650 grower/members established in 1917.  Sunsweet is the number-one brand of
prunes and related products on a global basis.