Duane Reade encourages New Yorkers to make 'em laugh

NEW YORK — Duane Reade is inviting comedic talents to supply humorous or witty captions for a Duane Reade cartoon as part of the retailer's Facebook "Caption Contest" that kicks off this week.

Each week for the next four weeks, the Manhattan-based retailer, which is owned by Walgreens, will run a caption-less cartoon in selected New York newspapers, where a uniquely New York scene or scenario is ripe for a clever caption. The subject matter in the various cartoons is designed to strike a chord with most city denizens.

In one cartoon, an air traffic controller is seen taking an ill-advised break amidst a busy day at the airport. A second cartoon has the city's new sanitary grades for eating establishments making an appearance, as a man crawling through the desert encounters a less-than-sanitary sidewalk food vendor.

In each cartoon, a different Duane Reade product makes a cameo appearance. For instance, Duane Reade water is sold by the food vendor, and the air traffic controller sits reclined with a bag of Duane Reade popcorn while watching a movie on his monitor. All the products currently are featured in the new Duane Reader "magalog" that is published regularly for consumers by the drug store chain.

To submit a caption, contestants are asked to text "DR" to 30364, or visit Facebook.com/DuaneReade. Contest hopefuls also can visit the company's corporate website and click on the dedicated contest banner located on the homepage.

"We felt this contest provided a natural viral path to increasing our social media presence while showcasing the creative zeal of many New Yorkers," stated Paul Tiberio, SVP merchandising and marketing at Duane Reade. "This Facebook initiative enables us to highlight our new Duane Reade product offerings in an edgy but strategically engaging way."

A panel of judges will select the best overall caption from among all entries for the four different cartoons, and will run the winning caption-cartoon combo as a full-page ad in the June 27 double issue of New York magazine.