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 on the Internet, visit:
For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:
To access photos of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Cool Kids
Combos toys, visit:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/images/paoimages/misc/20040106_nasakids/
For information about Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Cool Kids
Combos on the Internet, visit:
http://www.carlscoolkids.com/
or
http://www.hardeescoolkids.com/
For information about NASA education programs on the
Internet, visit:
