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Valassis Continues Expansion of America's Looking For Its Missing Children(R) Program

Posted on: Thursday, 11 December 2008, 08:02 CST

LIVONIA, Mich., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today that it is once again expanding the America's Looking For Its Missing Children(R) Program on its RedPlum(R) Free-standing Insert (FSI). The national FSI reaches 60 million households across the nation and has a banner on the top back cover of the coupon booklet which features a Have You Seen Me? (R) color photo of a missing child. Beginning in January 2009, the expanded program will allow Valassis to regionalize and target color photos of different missing children across five distinct areas of the country every week, based on FBI information as to where that child may have been last seen.

"With this initiative, it is possible for consumers to receive the national RedPlum FSI in a given weekend in Los Angeles featuring the photo of one child, while consumers in Houston and Chicago receive FSIs with photos of different missing children relevant to those communities," said Alan F. Schultz, Valassis Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "As a result of this new capability, it is our hope and expectation that we can contribute to the safe recovery of even more children through our partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R)(NCMEC) and the U.S. Postal Service. Valassis is proud to participate in such an important cause and remains steadfastly committed to the continued success of the America's Looking For Its Missing Children(R) Program."

We began the program in 1985 in partnership with NCMEC and the U.S. Postal Service. Last year, Valassis expanded the program from the RedPlum Shared Mail Package to the FSI and online at http://www.redplum.com. Today, the program reaches an estimated 130 million households.

It has grown to become the most successful private-sector program of its kind. The Have You Seen Me? (R) color photos feature the names and faces of missing children, along with a toll-free number and Web site address dedicated to handling leads on locating these children. To date, as a direct result of these leads generated by Valassis' partnership program, 148 missing children have been safely recovered.

"As the founder and steward of the Missing Child Program for the last 25 years, I am very pleased that we've found another way to extend its reach," said Vince Giuliano, Valassis Senior Vice President, Government Relations. "This expansion allows for greater visibility and a wider variety of photos to get delivered to consumers across the country. I have great conviction that the power of this company will protect our children and bring more children home. A picture is the most important tool for law enforcement to recover a missing child and that photo is the hope of searching parents to bring their child home."

"Valassis' continued expansion of its Missing Child Program is a public service that will deliver even more missing children's photos into millions of households nationwide, increasing the likelihood of a child's recovery," said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of NCMEC. "I urge everyone to take a moment to look for the missing child photos on the RedPlum Free-standing Inserts, Shared Mail Packages and online. One lead can bring a missing child home."

About Valassis

Valassis is one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, offering unparalleled reach and scale to more than 15,000 advertisers. Its RedPlum media portfolio delivers value on a weekly basis to over 100 million shoppers across a multi-media platform - in-home, in-store and in-motion. Through its newest offering - redplum.com - consumers will find compelling national and local deals online. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in 28 states and nine countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America's Looking for Its Missing Children(R) program. Valassis companies include Valassis Direct Mail, Inc., Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems, LLC and NCH Marketing Services, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.valassis.com or http://www.redplum.com.

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements found in this document constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Valassis to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: price competition from our existing competitors; new competitors in any of our businesses; a shift in customer preference for different promotional materials, promotional strategies or coupon delivery methods including as a result of declines in newspaper circulations; an unforeseen increase in our paper or postal costs; changes which affect the businesses of our clients and lead to reduced sales promotion spending including a decrease in marketing budgets which are generally discretionary in nature and easier to reduce in the short-term than other expenses; challenges and costs of achieving synergies and cost savings in connection with the ADVO acquisition and integrating ADVO's operations may be greater than expected; our substantial indebtedness, and our ability to incur additional indebtedness, may affect our financial health; certain covenants in our debt documents could adversely restrict our financial and operating flexibility; fluctuations in the amount, timing, pages, weight and kinds of advertising pieces from period to period, due to a change in our clients' promotional needs, inventories and other factors; our failure to attract and retain qualified personnel may affect our business and results of operations; a rise in interest rates could increase our borrowing costs; the outcome of ADVO's pending shareholder lawsuits; possible governmental regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business; and general economic conditions, whether nationally or in the market areas in which we conduct business, may be less favorable than expected. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional risks include, but are not limited to those risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2007 (the 2007 Form 10-K) and our other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

SOURCE Valassis

Source: PR Newswire

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