It has come to the knowledge that the Applebee's International, Inc., the world's leading casual dining concept, has selected in the recent days, McCann Erickson of New York as its New Creative Agency of Record, and to be applied with immediate effect.

Applebee's International, Inc., is renowned in the international arena for its development and escalation of vast network principles of high excellence in business, franchises and operation of restaurants under the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar brand, the largest casual dining concept in the world. It functions from its headquarter in Overland Park, Kan. It has been estimated that by February 2007, there were 1,942 restaurants operating system-wide in 49 states, 16 international countries, and one U.S. territory.

At this juncture it is to be noted that the McCann Erickson from its inception has been acclaimed for its wonderful creative designs. In addition in the recent days due to its spontaneous and immense achievement in the global continuum, the Company has been internationally recognized for its award-winning creative work on iconic campaigns that include MasterCard's "Priceless," Staples' "Easy Button" and Verizon's "The Network," among others, and they are industry leaders in advertising effectiveness. Therefore the first priority of the Applebee's International, Inc. has been the necessity of development of a new integrated communications campaign that is destined to be launched launch in the fourth quarter.

While answering to the queries of the newsmen in this esteem the chief marketing officer of Applebee's International, Inc. George Williams said, "After an extensive agency review process, we are thrilled to have McCann Erickson on board to create fresh and compelling advertising that will take the Applebee's brand to a whole new level."   "We believe the concept McCann presented to us fits perfectly with our brand strategy. It will break through the category clutter, drive traffic to our restaurants and entertain everyone who sees it," he concluded. On the contrary, Eric Keshin, the Chief Operating Officer of McCann Worldgroup and regional director of McCann Erickson North America, said, "To help Applebee's achieve their aggressive ambitions for the brand, it was important to develop an idea that is iconic, ownable, extendable and break-through. And most importantly, drive traffic. We are thrilled to be working with the Applebee's team and look forward to helping them realize their goals."