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Sweet Shop Launch On Facebook® Platform Set To Give Mars Retail Sales A Lift

A new gifting application called Celebrate is launched 14th of February on Facebook Platform by The Light Agency.

For some time, Facebook users have been able to send their friends virtual gifts, but this new innovation enables users to buy actual gifts from the popular Mars range.  Products can be redeemed nationwide at over 12,500 participating PayPoint stores via a scannable unique mobile voucher ID.

Marc Lewis, founder and chairman of The Light Agency commented:  "With over 7 million users in the UK alone, Facebook is a phenomenon and we are extremely excited to be launching Celebrate.  With more than 50 percent of Facebook users returning to the site each day, it gives us and Mars an unprecedented reach and opportunity to build a business highly relevant to people's lives.  As the boundaries between the virtual and real worlds are being increasingly blurred and our award winning technology platform, M BAR GO®, will allow users to buy each other sweets at the touch of a few buttons.  With PayPoint outlets nationwide, I am sure Facebook users will be showering each other with Celebrate gifts." 

Sara Miles, Mars Snackfood UK said "We are very excited to be involved with this new ground breaking initiative with Facebook. It will drive traffic and incremental confectionery sales for our PayPoint retail partners in a way that is at the forefront of the digital revolution whilst offering our consumers a different way of sending confectionery gifts to friends and family."

Facebook is a social utility that offers an efficient way for people to stay connected and share information with their friends and people around them through the social graph.  Facebook recently launched Facebook Platform, a development platform that enables companies to integrate with Facebook and gain access to millions of users.

Notes to Editors
About CELEBRATE - THE LIGHT AGENCY
- The CELEBRATE a gifting application built on Facebook Platform for the Facebook website is powered by the multi-award winning technology platform M BAR GO® created by The Light Agency.  The technology binds together mobile phone technology, terminal and EPoS payment systems to enable consumer mobile discounts.

- The new service is quick and easy to use.  Users simply select the gift they wish to send, select a friend, add a message and pay for the gift using their PayPal account.  A message is sent to the gift recipient and they are requested to provide their mobile number to receive a unique Celebrate Voucher ID.  To collect the gift, they visit a participating retailer and show the Celebrate Voucher ID where it is scanned at the PayPoint terminal.

- M BAR GO® has won a number of industry accolades and awards including:  Real Business/O2 50 to Watch in Mobile 2007, Red Herring 100 Europe 2006, EPoS Innovation of the Year and Grand Prix (Retail Systems 2006) and Most Innovative Digital Business (Revolution Awards 2006).

About Mars UK
- Mars UK is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated, a privately-held company that produces some of the world's leading confectionery, food and petcare products and has growing beverage and health & nutrition businesses. Founded in 1911, the company manufactures and markets a variety of products under many of the world's most recognizable trademarks, including MILKY WAY®, M&M'S®, SNICKERS®, MARS®, UNCLE BEN'S® Rice, and PEDIGREE® and WHISKAS® petcare products.

- Sarah Miles is the UK Trade Marketing Controller Impulse Snackfood.

About PAYPOINT
- PayPoint is the UK's and Ireland's leading cash and internet payments company.  The PayPoint branded retail network numbers over 17,500 terminals located in local shops (including SPAR, NISA-Today's, Texaco and thousands of independents) in all parts of the UK and Ireland. 

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.