Austin Resident to Drive Off with 2007 GMC Acadia As Grand Prize Winner
in the "My H-E-B Commercial" Contest

Winner joins Two Other Austin Residents Who Also Take Home Top Honors in Contest

(AUSTIN) – As a city, Austin today added a new title – that of the home to Texas-size creativity. After a state-wide vote that saw more than 16,000 votes cast, three Austin residents will take the top awards in the “My H-E-B Commercial” contest. The contest asked Texans to create their own commercial capturing what makes H-E-B “their H-E-B”. The winners will be presented with their awards during a celebration event held in their honor at the H-E-B located at 2400 S. Congress at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 15.

For his 30-second video commercial entitled “Tyler’s H-E-B Commercial”, 21-year-old Tyler Welsh of Austin wins a 2007 GMC Acadia as the grand-prize winner in the video category. Welsh intends to thank his new puppy, Scruffy, who starred in the commercial and captured hearts with his adorable antics and big eating habits.

Taking other top honors in the contest will be Melissa Simonsen, also of Austin, as the grand-prize winner in the script category. She wins $1,000 in H-E-B Gift Cards for her script called “The Care Package”. The script features a mother and daughter lovingly putting together a care package of H-E-B products for a loved one that’s moved out of state.

Rounding out the Austin area winners in the contest is Mandy Young of Cedar Park. As the 2nd prize winner in the video category, Young wins $2,500 in H-E-B gift cards for her humorous commercial which featured two dogs plotting and launching a plan to steal H-E-B Fully Cooked® meat from their owner’s refrigerator.

Both Welsh’s and Young’s video commercials will begin airing in June on TV stations across the state.

“Austin has much to boast about, with three winners coming from the area,” said Leslie Lockett, H-E-B Director of Public Affairs. “Clearly when it comes to creativity, Austin knows its stuff. We congratulate all the winners and the finalists on their fantastic entries.”

The “My H-E-B Commercial Contest” kicked-off in January and saw more than 600 commercial entries submitted from H-E-B shoppers across the state. These entries were then narrowed to 20 finalists (10 in the video category and 10 in the script category) and two grand-prize winners (one video and one script). The 20 finalists were then placed on H-E-B’s Web site, heb.com, for customer voting to determine the contest’s first and second place winners.

Irene Carranza of Corpus Christi for her video commercial, “Six Candles”, took first- prize in the video category and won a year’s worth of free groceries for her family. Debbie Parsons of San Antonio and Cynthia Stoker of Houston were the first and second prize winners, respectively, in the script category. Parsons for her commercial script called “We Baby Our Produce” won $500 in H-E-B Gift Cards and Stoker took home $250 in H-E-B Gift Cards for her script, “H-E-B Has Everything”.

About H-E-B
For more than 100 Years, H-E-B has been an innovative retailer. Known for its fresh food, quality products, convenient services, and a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, H-E-B strives to provide the best customer experience at every day low prices. Based in San Antonio, H-E-B employs more than 60,000 Partners and serves millions of customers in more than 150 communities throughout Texas and Mexico.