NASA will share cool facts about its missions and
activities with millions of children through a unique collaboration with CKE Restaurants, Inc., parent company of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurant chains.
Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Cool Kids Combos meals include fun NASA facts and collectible space-theme toys that share NASA’s devotion to exploration and discovery. The promotion begins today and runs through Feb. 24 at participating Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants.
The toys are designed to appeal to children between six and 10 and have been child safety-tested. Four different collector cards, each covered with eye-catching graphics, will share facts about planets, NASA’s missions, spacecraft and discoveries. Action toys include a Mars rover vehicle; Cassini Meets Saturn, a pullback Cassini spacecraft that orbits a model of Saturn; and a Cool Comet Mission flywheel spinner. Kids will also enjoy Space Flight, a double-sided puzzle.
“These toys and fun fact cards have the potential to get kids excited about space and the fascinating nature of science and its discoveries,” NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe said. “We hope to emulate this kind of collaboration with other commercial partners in the future as yet another avenue to inspire the next generation of explorers.”
Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s welcome this promotional tie-in with NASA. “Now kids of all ages can combine a great experience at Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s restaurants with the opportunity to learn about NASA’s historic ventures,” stated Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. “The collector cards and realistic space vehicle toys provide an up-close understanding of the complexity and marvels of space exploration. We are particularly excited about the opportunity to partner with NASA as they celebrate another successful mission to Mars,” he said.
The NASA discovery-inspired toys will be available at the more than 3,000 participating Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants in the United States, its territories, and Mexico. Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s expect to distribute as many as 3.5 million NASA-related Cool Kids Combos toys combined during the promotion .
Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are wholly owned subsidiaries of CKE Restaurants, Inc. of Carpinteria, California. CKE Restaurants, through its subsidiaries, franchisees and licensees, operates 3,284 restaurants in 44 states and in 14 countries, including 1,003 Carl’s Jr. restaurants, 2,134 Hardee’s and 100 La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grills.
Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Cool Kids Combos meals packaging and fun fact cards are designed to encourage children to log on to NASA For Kids to learn more about NASA missions.
For information about NASA For Kids, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/forkids
For information about Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Cool Kids Combos, visit:
http://www.carlscoolkids.com/
or
http://www.hardeescoolkids.com/
For information about NASA education programs, visit:
http://education.nasa.gov