MCCORMICK® GRILL MATES® NAMES FIRST-EVER GRILL MAYOR

Passionate NYC Grilling Fan Becomes “Real” Mayor After Checking in at His Grill on Foursquare

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (September 19, 2011) – There’s a new mayor in town. A Queens, NY man has been named the honorary Mayor of Hunt Valley, Md., the home of McCormick® Grill Mates®. This marks the first time a foursquare mayor has ever been granted an official mayoral title.

Andrew Gorgi won the mayorship after generating nearly 850 foursquare “check-ins" at his grill, in just 8 weeks. Gorgi and his grill-fanatic friends inundated the site with check-ins during al fresco feasts he hosted on every grill-worthy day from June through August. To make it official, he was also awarded a formal decree from the Baltimore County Office, which represents Hunt Valley. He will soon celebrate his new distinction at his home in Queens with a barbecue worthy of a real mayor, complete with a golden spatula.

In addition to his mayoral title, Gorgi managed to unlock all 28 Grill Mates badges on foursquare - including the Bacon, Rub-A-Dub-Dub and Grillzilla badges – awarded for exploring fiery new flavors and accomplishing unique grilling feats.   

“We’re thrilled with this culmination of our summer-long ‘Masters of the Grill’ campaign to connect with avid grilling fans online,” said Jill Pratt, Vice President of Marketing for U.S. Consumer Products at McCormick & Co. “Grillers share our passion for flavor, and Grill Mates saw an opportunity to really connect with them and stoke the fire through social media. The Grill Mayor foursquare program allowed us to celebrate with our fans, and help them create memorable food experiences at the grill.”

The Grill Mayor competition was one of several recent successful digital initiatives launched by McCormick to reach, engage and reward avid grillers and savvy moms with flavorful ideas and inspiration this summer. From a “Digital Dinner Bell” application for Lawry’s® to a Grill Mates Times Square billboard updated with fans’ Twitter profile pictures, McCormick successfully shared ideas and inspiration directly through their fans’ social streams. The McCormick Grill Mates Facebook page increased its fan numbers by 1,200 percent in only four months, to become a community of nearly 328,000 fans, and growing. Visit Facebook.com/GrillMates to join the community. 

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About McCormick
McCormick & Company, Incorporated is a global leader in flavor.  With more than $3 billion in annual sales, the Company manufactures, markets and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavorful products to the entire food industry – retail outlets, food manufacturers and foodservice businesses.   Every day, no matter where or what you eat, you can enjoy food flavored by McCormick.  McCormick brings passion to flavor™!  Visit mccormick.com and Facebook.com/McCormickSpice for more information.