Press Release from Zinkia Entertainment

Singapore, March 2, 2011: Kicking off its global Earth Hour “Beyond the Hour” campaign, executives from Earth Hour Global, World Wildlife Fund and Zinkia Entertainment today announced that the beloved children’s character, POCOYO, will serve as the campaign’s first official Global Kids’ Ambassador.

Following the adventures of Pocoyo, the award-winning animation series brings children into the bright world of an inquisitive and fun-loving boy and his animal friends, Elly (the elephant), Pato (the duck) and Loula (the dog). Packed with color, music and vibrant visual images, the series is both educational and entertaining.   Encouraging kids to “Learn through Laughter,” Pocoyo reaches children across the globe with a universe of values, including respect for planet earth! Recognized as a global brand, Pocoyo airs on television channels around the world, and the Pocoyo YouTube® channel has received more than 400 million hits worldwide!

As the newly appointed Global Kids’ Ambassador for Earth Hour, Pocoyo is primed for his latest adventure—to raise environmental awareness among today’s children. Empowering kids, their parents and caregivers to “turn off the lights” during Earth Hour—and to incorporate easy, environmentally sustainable actions “beyond the hour”—Pocoyo encourages kids to play a vital role in saving our planet!  As today’s children are tomorrow’s guardians of our planet, their involvement and sense of responsibility is vital.

Through innovative animation content and online activities, Pocoyo will encourage children around the globe to get involved in the 2011 Earth Hour initiative on March 26, 2011. Children will be asked to turn off lights in their homes for one hour beginning at 8:30 pm (in their respective time zones) in what has become a worldwide collective display of peoples’ commitment to protect the planet.  Earth Hour activities can be found at www.pocoyo.com/earth_hour_2011.html.

In 2010, the Earth Hour message reached 1.3 billion and the event saw hundreds of millions of people switch off in more than 4,616 cities and towns in 128 countries.

Andy Ridley, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour said, “Earth Hour has grown exponentially year on year since its inception in 2007. We have been overwhelmed by the power of individuals and communities to come together and send a powerful message by switching off the lights. Just imagine what we could achieve if we take this ‘beyond the hour.’ POCOYO’s massive appeal with children worldwide will be a tremendous asset in growing Earth Hour ‘beyond the hour.’”

“Pocoyo is about a young boy’s discovery of the world around him, which makes it such a perfect fit with the objectives of Earth Hour and the World Wildlife Fund,” explained Zinkia Entertainment Co-Founder and Chairman José María Castillejo. “Two years ago, Pocoyo started partnering with World Wildlife Fund International and the Earth Hour campaign in Spain. Through the development of innovative content delivered on a variety of media platforms--a strategy that has been at the core of Pocoyo’s brand growth--Pocoyo encouraged hundreds of thousands of young children to not only turn out the lights for that one hour in March, but also provided them with easily comprehended tips on how they could continue to incorporate eco-friendly habits into their daily lives.”