I grew up in Gettysburg and was lucky enough to enjoy Utz products often (the base for the plant is in Hanover, PA, just a few miles away from my hometown.) I’m so excited about their new contest that they are doing in the Philly area! Check it out!!
By JOSEPH DEINLEIN
For the Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 04/17/2010 06:47:30 AM EDT
The neon sign featuring the Little Utz Girl that once stood next to Interstate 83 in Baltimore has moved to Pennsylvania.
However, despite previous talk that it might come to Eisenhower Drive and Broadway in Hanover, the sign has been erected in a more heavily trafficked area.
And Utz Quality Foods is holding a contest for those in the Philadelphia area — or those happening through — to take a photograph of the sign at its new location off Interstate 95 and upload it at the company’s Web site.
“An opportunity presented itself in the Philly market that we couldn’t pass up,” said Alec Sivel, Utz’s vice president of marketing. “It’s a big market for us and a good location opened up for us.”
The sign depicts the company’s Little Utz Girl logo, the company’s name and the slogan “Snack on.” It had been in Baltimore for 10 years, on a building in the 200 block of North Gay Street, just to the left of I-83 headed south.
There had been talk in May of last year about moving the 580-square-foot sign to the Utz factory near the end of Eisenhower Drive, at Broadway and Moulstown Road. Zoning regulations, however, only allow signs to be 80 square feet per each wall of the structure.
The “U” of the sign alone is 100 square feet, borough officials said at the time.
While exploring possibilities in Hanover, the Philly location became available.
“We had started looking at different locations in Hanover when this came up,” Sivel said. “But we hadn’t gone down that path all the way. Hanover was not the place, at this time, because of this opportunity.”
The sign has been on a billboard on the Delaware Expressway (I-95) near South Front Street and Pattison Avenue since the end of March. Initially, company officials had been trying to keep the exact location out of print to make the contest all that more exciting.
“But the word is out in Philly,” Sivel said.
The company advised in a news release that photographers not drive while snapping the photo.
“Instead, have a passenger take the picture or head to Pattison Avenue for a better view,” the release stated.
CONTEST
The contest ends April 25, when one photograph will be selected at random as the winner. The person who submitted the photo will become a member of the Utz’s Snack of the Month Club.
As a member of the club, the person will have a featured Utz snack, which could include classic products or new releases, delivered to their door once a month for a year, the company said.
