Crown Honored with Two 'Cans of the Year' Awards

The hourglass-shaped Waistline package visually reinforces the healthy living theme of the brand, which was launched to meet demand from consumers for more nutritious meal options.

03/11/06 Crown Holdings, Inc. announces that several of its subsidiaries have won prestigious "Cans of the Year 2006" awards. CROWN Food Europe received the Silver Award in the Food Category for the distinctive Waistline low-calorie foods can specially developed for Crosse & Blackwell, one of Premier Foods' leading canned food brands. CROWN Aerosols Europe won the Bronze Award in the Promotional Category for the special shaped aerosol packaging The Gillette Company leveraged for a unique World Cup promotion. Awards were given out during a ceremony held in Dolce Sitges, Spain in early October.

The hourglass-shaped Waistline package visually reinforces the healthy living theme of the brand, which was launched to meet demand from consumers for more nutritious meal options. The three-piece cans include a steel EOLE III easy-open end for greater convenience and decorative shrink sleeving for outstanding shelf appearance. In addition to achieving differentiation on the shelf, the package has been designed to run on existing machinery without changing filling, seaming or retort processes.

Winning the Bronze Award in the Promotional Category was the limited edition aerosol packaging created for The Gillette Company to coincide with the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament, for which the company was an official sponsor. Designed to resemble a football (known as a soccer ball in the United States), the package is contoured in a comfortable, easy-to-grip shape, facilitating product dispensing. The creative shape also underscores Gillette's commitment to the sport of football, which is a passion for many of the company's existing and target customers. The design was featured on packaging for the company's MACH3Turbo shaving gel, Gillette Series shaving gel and Gillette Series antiperspirant and deodorant brands, which were available in supermarkets, drug stores and pharmacies across Europe and the United States throughout the tournament.

"Winning these awards demonstrates that utilizing innovative, creatively shaped packaging to attract consumer attention is an increasingly popular and effective marketing trend," comments John Conway, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Crown Holdings. "Crown's patented blowforming technology allows for the production of essentially any shape - from subtle to highly innovative asymmetrical designs - resulting in a powerful way to differentiate brands at point-of-sale, improve consumer experience and generate excitement for special events or milestones."

Organized by The Canmaker magazine, the awards are designed to celebrate and promote innovative metal packaging. "Cans of the Year" traditionally runs alongside the Cannex exhibition where show attendees vote for the overall contest winner. Experienced industry executives choose individual category winners, awarding gold, silver and bronze prizes.