Crown and Cott Innovate Excitement for New "24 CTU" Stimulation Drink Brand in UK

High-octane drama fuels the worldwide hit television series "24." In the series, agent Jack Bauer of the U.S. Counter Terrorism Unit - CTU - races against the clock to defeat international enemies in just one day. Each of the season's 24 episodes corresponds to an adrenaline filled hour of television.

To capitalize on the hit show's energetic and exciting image, Cott Corporation, one of the world's largest non-alcoholic beverage companies and the world's largest retailer-brand soft drink provider, has introduced "24 CTU," a new citrus-flavored stimulation drink brand in the UK.

To pay homage to the drama's intensity on its new beverage cans, Cott has tapped long-time design and material collaboration partner CROWN Bevcan Europe and Middle East, a business unit of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) (Crown) (www.crowncork.com). Crown's packaging engineers have a strong record of innovating breakthroughs in printing, shaping, and performance for worldwide food and beverage brand giants.

The new drink comes in 44cl cans, a new size for the energy drink market in the UK, and features the "24 CTU" graphic reproduced with shimmering intensity. Printed on two distinctly colored cans (dark and silver), for diet and regular versions of the new beverage brand, the packaging also had to address the particular needs of 20th Century Fox.

"This deal is the single largest European brand statement so far for Fox and the '24' property," says Carl Lumbard, SVP & Managing Director of Fox Licensing and Merchandising, Europe. "Brand synergy within a partnership is key to the success of a product, and it's essential to focus on making that partnership right. Here we see the all-action, intense nature of the '24' series matched with an energy-inducing stimulation drink."

In order to meet these needs, Crown unveiled High Quality Print, its exciting new printing technique which considerably advances the print reproduction process. High Quality Print makes use of special, high resolution printing plates, which allow for improved dot separation, leading to superior print reproduction of complex images on cans. As such, the innovative process is particularly suitable for reproducing fine detail images such as human or animal faces, fruit and fine text.

"We faced enormous challenges in creating a product that would capture the spirit of the series. Reproduction of the distinctive "24 CTU" typeface on the brand-driven packaging was absolutely essential," says Mark Edge, brand manager of Cott Corp. in the UK. "Crown has been a terrific technology, design and service partner in helping us to achieve our goals for '24 CTU'."

"As more and more consumer goods companies reallocate marketing dollars into point-of-purchase related activities, companies like Cott continue to find ways to enhance branding at the retail shelf," says Caroline Archer-Reed, director of marketing, CROWN Bevcan Europe & Middle East. "Crown's High Quality Print process is an ideal choice to help companies do just that."

The refreshing citrus-based "24 CTU" stimulation drink ("Every Second Counts") is now available in the UK with European distribution expected in 2008.