San Diego-based Bumble Bee Seafood has teamed-up with child actress and millennial Disney icon Christy Carlson Romano for a holiday promotional campaign called “Eat BEEfore You Eat.”
The campaign’s call-to-action message is to snack on Bumble Bee tuna as the perfect solution to quell hunger pangs while waiting for the big holiday meal.
“I know that, for my family, the days leading up to big holiday celebrations are filled with errands, to-do lists and a lot of time in the kitchen preparing for big meals,” Romano said in a statement. “That’s where Bumble Bee can come in handy, in a major way. My kids and I love grabbing a tuna pouch or kit on our way out the door.”
“And I’ve even been known to tear open my favorite Lemon Pepper seasoned tuna pouch when cooking a meal, a few bites of tuna while I cook keeps me full and doesn’t create another kitchen mess to clean up,” she said.
Romano, best known for her roles in Disney’s “Kim Possible,” “Even Stevens” and “Cadet Kelly, is currently the face of a YouTube channel and the founder of the PodCo Network, hosting podcasts on nostalgic and current entertainment topics.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Christy to get the word out about Bumble Bee tuna,” said Dana Kowal, brand marketing director at Bumble Bee. “She’s helping reach younger consumers with our message that tuna is an affordable, nutritious, convenient, and delicious protein source.
“Our ready-to-eat pouches, Snack on the Run kits, Quick Catch bowls and cans in a variety of flavors make things easy. They’re great for those in between snack meal moments and to hold you over before the big holiday feasts,” she said.
The selection of Romano for endorsing a food product is noteworthy given the spokesperson’s personal history with an eating disorder.
In 2021, Romano revealed she struggled with a negative self-image and eating disorder while growing up in the spotlight as the star of “Even Stevens.” She told People Magazine that, as a kid, she was naturally “lanky, all arms and legs” and was bullied “because I was so skinny.”
“I remember drinking a lot and I remember smoking lots of cigarettes and I remember just not eating and waking up at like, later parts of the day and not prioritizing my health in general,” she said to People Magazine. “I look at pictures from that time and I just know how unhappy and how unhappy the lifestyle was for me.”
Earlier, in 2019, Romano wrote about her mental health and alcohol struggles in an essay published by Teen Vogue magazine. “I won’t be the last child actor to tell you the pitfalls of early-onset fame,” she wrote in the essay. “I became a bit harder-edged, binge-drank more at loud nightclubs, and started to accept the transient natures of love, sex, and friendship.
During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Romano and her family relocated from Los Angeles to Austin. In a February 2022 YouTube video, Romano talked about why she loves living in Texas. In April of this year, the actress made a TikTok video about how she escaped Hollywood for the Long Star state. The video received more than 416,000 views and 29,000 likes.
During the past 18 months, Bumble Bee has introduced several new snack-focused items to their tuna pouches product line, including the addition of a new Ranch flavor to its Snack on the Run kits, and three new flavor additions, including Applewood Smoke, Teriyaki and Mediterranean Herbs and Spices.
Bumble Bee’s seafood and specialty protein products are marketed in the U.S., Canada and more than 50 markets globally under the names of Bumble Bee, Anova, Brunswick, Clover Leaf, Snow’s, Wild Selections and Beach Cliff.
iHeart Radio Hosting Rady Children’s Hospital Giveathon
The eight San Diego radio stations operated by iHeart Media will participate in the 2023 iHeart Rady Children’s Hospital Giveathon, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 13 and 14.
The stations include KOGO 600-AM, KGB-FM 101.5, KGB-AM San Diego Sports 760, KHTS-FM Channel 93.3, KIOZ-FM Rock 105.3, KMYI-FM Star 94.1, KSSX-FM JAM’N 95.7 and KLSD 1360-AM The Patriot 1360.
All shows both days on all stations will include stories of hope and healing from Rady Children’s Hospital patients. As one of the largest children’s hospitals on the West Coast and one of the nation’s top pediatric health care systems, Rady provides care to more than 90 percent of the children in the region. The hospital team includes more than 1,000 physicians, 1,500 nurses, 6,000 employees and about 500 active volunteers.
An iHeart spokesperson told Times of San Diego that organizers expect more than $500,000 will be donated over the two days.
Donations on Dec. 13 and 14 can be made by texting “RADY” to 51555, or calling 1-800-258-0007.
Magic 92.5’s Jagger and Kristi Granting Christmas Wishes Again
Husband-and-wife radio team Mark and Kristi Jagger, hosts of “Jagger and Kristi in the Morning,” heard on XHRM-FM Magic 92.5, have begun accepting names of people who need a Christmas wish granted as part of the station’s 13th annual “Christmas Wish” promotion. Nominations can be submitted at magic925.com.
The station said listeners can nominate someone they know who needs help. Self-nominations are not eligible and nominators cannot live in the same household as the person they’re nominating.
Twelve people will be selected this month to receive a Christmas wish tailored to their needs, along with a free Christmas tree, gifts for children and tickets to SeaWorld San Diego.
A station statement said, “We depend on you to let us know of a family who could use some help. This year in 2023 we left the pandemic behind. But, we are experiencing some of the highest price increases ever all across the board. This continues to cause stress and financial strife for more and more families, and they need help.”
The station began announcing this year’s wish recipients on Dec. 4. So far, recipients have included a single mother of two boys, a single mother of three children, a woman who has undergone several amputations and a woman who supports her daughter, mother and grandma without expecting anything in return.
Another recipient is a married couple who learned their new son will be born with deformities in his arms and heart. As a result, the husband enlisted in the U.S. Army to receive dependent benefits.
The Jaggers have worked together as on-air personalities since 1996. They were married in 1997 and have been hosts of “Jagger and Kristi in the Morning” on Magic 92.5 since 2005.
Local Media San Diego LLC operates Magic 92.5, along with XTRA-FM 91X, XHTZ-FM Z90.3 and KFBG-FM 100.7 BIG-FM.
News Media Groups Host Holiday Mixer
Four local news media professional groups will host the San Diego Media Holiday Mixer from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 13, at Thorn Brewing Co., 1745 National Ave. in Barrio Logan.
The groups include the San Diego Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Pro Chapter, National Association of Hispanic Journalists San Diego-Tijuana chapter and San Diego Association of Black Journalists.
Admission is free. Appetizers will be free, but drinks will be available for purchase. To register, call (858) 633-3594, or send an email to pressclubsandiego@gmail.com.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.