January 7, 2004

Gretchen Cook-Anderson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-0836)

Christie Cooney
Carl's Jr., Carpinteria, Calif.
(Phone: 805/745-7740)

Bev Pfeifer-Harms
Hardee's, St. Louis, Mo.
(Phone: 314/259-6315)

RELEASE: 04-015

NASA, CARL'S JR.® AND HARDEE'S® SHARE 'COOL' FACTS WITH KIDS

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&trade; 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:



http://www.nasa.gov/forkids

For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:



http://www.NASA.gov

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:



http://education.nasa.gov

	
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