For Immediate Release
June 23, 2016
Contact Information

Teresa Lyles Holmes
212.219-7239
Teresa.holmes@uwgny.com

(BPRW) Colgate to Promote Presence of a Healthy, Designer Smileâ„¢ at the 2016 Essence Festival and Day of Service in New Orleans

Leading oral care brand to engage African American families in building healthy habits and celebrating The Power of a Bright Smileâ„¢ during three-day music and cultural festival

(Black PR Wire) NEW YORK, NY (June 23, 2016) —For the third year in a row, Colgate will partner with the biggest names in health, fitness and beauty to promote healthy habits and proper oral care through a number of informative and interactive events at the 2016 ESSENCE Festival.These events will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans from July 1 to July 3.

Festival activities will once again be preceded by the ESSENCE Day of Service, a volunteer day dedicated to youth, mentorship and education that began last year in honor of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® mobile dental van, which has been reaching children in need with The Power of a Bright Smile™ for 25 years, will take part in the 2016 Day of Service on June 30th at Cohen College Prep, providing free on-site dental screenings and oral health education.

The ESSENCE Festival will then officially kick off on July 1, connecting with an expected 500,000 or more festival goers through interactive experiences to share key messages about the importance of health and wellness, all while achieving a designer smile.

This year’s scheduled events include:

July 1:A Colgate Total® Conversation” — An interactive thirty-minute discussion featuring a panel of experts covering important health and wellness themes in the African American community, ranging from oral care to fitness. The most important takeaway will be the link between oral health and overall health. The panelists will include Dr. Catrise Austin, oral care expert; celebrity fitness trainer Mark Jenkins; yoga expert Nadia Bey; and Vanessa Garrison, co-founder, GirlTrek, an organization that encourages walking.

July 2:A Colgate Total® Conversation with Shaun T”— One of the biggest names in fitness will lead a 45-minute workout on center stage. The first 150 registrants will receive a Colgate gift pack and premiere workout access.

July 3: “Colgate® Optic White® Beauty Confessions” — This conversation will be co-hosted by Essence Beauty Editor Pamela Edwards and Claire Sulmers, style expert and editor, Fashion Bomb Daily. The guest panelists will include hair stylist to the stars, Kim Kimble. An engaging conversation about the presenceof a Designer Smile™ and celebrity smile makeovers. The audience will also get a chance to play “Designer Smile Reveal” and guess which celebrity is behind the featured designer smile.

July 2–5: Throughout the festival, consumers will have the opportunity to engage one-on-one with the Colgate experts and upload fun personal photos to their social media pages from the Colgate® Optic White® photobooth using #DesignerSmile.

“Colgate is excited to return to Essence Festival for the third straight year,” says Carla Kelly, General Manager, Multicultural Marketing, Colgate-Palmolive. “We value our partnership with Essence and this invaluable opportunity at Essence Festival to create experiences, which bring our brands to life for consumers.”

To further engage consumers on-site, Colgate will be encouraging attendees to share their festival experience via social media using the hashtag #designersmile to enter to win daily raffles of Colgate prize packs that include health and beauty product giveaways.

For more information about Colgate’s portfolio of products, including Optic White® and Colgate Total®, please visit www.colgate.com.

About Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive is a leading global consumer products company, tightly focused on Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care and Pet Nutrition. Colgate sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world under such internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Palmolive, Speed Stick, Lady Speed Stick, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Protex, Sorriso, Kolynos, elmex, Tom’s of Maine, Sanex, Ajax, Axion, Fabuloso, Soupline and Suavitel, as well as Hill’s Science Diet, Hill’s Prescription Diet and Hill’s Ideal Balance. For more information about Colgate’s global business, visit the Company’s web site at http://www.colgatepalmolive.com. To learn more about Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® oral health education program, please visit http://www.colgatebsbf.com.

About Essence Communications Inc.
Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) is the number one media company dedicated to African-American women, with a multi-platform presence in publishing, live events and online. The company’s flagship publication, Essence magazine, is the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African-American women, generating brand extensions, such as the Essence Festival, Essence Black Women in Hollywood and Black Women in Music, Window on Our Women and Smart Beauty consumer insights series, Essence.com, and ventures in digital media (mobile, television and VOD). For 46 years, Essence, which has a brand reach of 14.2 million, has been the leading source of cutting-edge information and specific solutions relating to every area of African-American women’s lives. Additional information about ECI and Essence is available at www.essence.com.