Iconic British comedian and author Harry Hill has been announced as special guest judge in Beano’s nationwide search to find Britain’s Funniest Class.

Teachers up and down the country have until May 10^th to put forward their class’ very best jokes, gags and funnies to be in with a chance of being crowned the winner.

The top ten jokes chosen by Harry Hill and Beano’s gag makers will appear on Beano.com with kids voting to decide who will be Britain’s funniest class. The winner and two runners-up will each receive a bundle of Beano annuals comic subscriptions and a special VIP Beano visit, including a joke workshop.

Primary school across the UK can submit their classes’ jokes up until 10^th May 2019 online at https://schools.beano.com/

Last year the iconic TV presenter released his second book in the ‘Matt Millz’ series to inspire kids to start out in comedy. ‘Matt Millz Stands Up!’ tells the story of the youngest comedian in the world facing the fickle finger of fame.

Harry Hill said: “This competition is an incredible opportunity for British kids to release their inner-comedian and let loose their imaginations. It’s a great way for kids to show they know best when it comes to telling rib-tickling jokes and show the adults how it’s done.”

Mike Stirling, Editorial Director at Beano Studios, said: “At Beano we’ve been giggling with kids for 80 years and we are on a mission to spread their much needed humour across the UK. Jokes are meant to be silly, naughty and imaginative; they are also the perfect way of injecting some much needed LOLZ into the classroom whilst encouraging kids to develop their literacy skills. We’ve had some fantastic entries so far and we are looking forward to reading more of the best jokes from across the country.”

Classes can source further inspiration from Beano’s ‘Joke Generator’ which hosts 80 years’ worth of classic jokes at www.beano.com/jokes

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Drinks brand Hooch is exclusively sponsoring Leicester Comedy Festival, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and which expects to attract 120,000 people to more than 800 shows taking place in over 60 venues around the Midlands town.

The festival features the UK Pun Championships and the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year competition, with established and up-and-coming talent including of Harry Hill, Katherine Ryan and Flo & Joan.

Hooch is collaborating with Big Difference Company and Crosscut Media to create reels of video content throughout the event. The footage will include segments pitting comedians head to head in battle challenges, on-the-spot scenarios and other fun tasks to create original, responsive comedy snippets which will be aired through Leicester Comedy Fest TV (LCFTV), powered by Hooch.

Hooch will be using its social media presence to amplify LCFTV and spread the word of this much-loved and unique festival to the rest of the UK. Additionally, The drinks brand will be running a series of competitions on social media for consumers to share some of their own favourite jokes in an attempt to win tickets to sell-out shows and exclusive Hooch merchandise.

Christian Sarginson, Brand Controller at Hooch’s owner, Global Brands Ltd, says: “Leicester Comedy Festival is the perfect partnership for Hooch; both the brand and the festival are all about getting out and enjoying life in a care-free and fun manner. Hooch has a long-standing relationship with comedy; we’ve created many original sketches over the last five years but this is our first foray into traditional property sponsorship. We couldn’t be happier to be working with Big Difference Company and Cross Cut Media to create more innovative content with top comedians and bring laughter to our fans around the UK.”

The festival begins on February 7th with both Hooch and new flavour Hoola Hooch 275ml bottles available behind the bar to purchase at selected venues. A selection of ‘punny’ cocktails have also been created to offer consumers more of a range to enjoy at the shows.

Global Brands is a leading UK drinks brand development business which owns, markets and distributes a range of brands across the spirit, beer, RTD and energy drinks categories. These include VK, Hooch, Corky’s and Amigos Tequila Beer.

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As part of the latest version of its Stay Smooth campaign, Whyte & Mackay whisky is taking a “wry and witty look at the real folk of both Glasgow and Edinburgh” that have helped shape the brand’s smooth taste and character, and is again working with award-winning Scottish photographer, David Boni.

The campaign, which launched earlier this month, sees the creation of a series of quirky and fun posters of real people and a coffee-table magazine, which will be distributed on streets and in key bars across both cities, plus new POS kits and promotional scratch cards for the on trade. There is also an instant win competition with 5,000 free drams as prizes and a text to win competition with the star prize of the chance for one fan to create their own whisky.

The magazine and accompanying poster campaign feature innovative AR technology, bringing to life four of the featured characters.  The campaign will also see a number of giant static mirrors located in selected bars and prime outdoor street spots in each city, providing people with a glimpse of their own reflection and reminding them to ‘Stay Smooth’. Whyte & Mackay is promoting the activity via social media including Twitter.

Whyte & Mackay mirrors and the accompanying poster campaign will be running in city centre locations, with the magazines and on-trade promotion kits available in nearly 100 bars across Glasgow and Edinburgh.

To enter the competition, people have to buy a Whyte & Mackay at a participating outlet and text in to tell the brand what makes them Surprisingly Smooth in 10 words or less. The most original entry, as judged by Whyte & Mackay, will win.

The star prize includes return train travel to Glasgow from any UK mainland railway station for two people, one night’s accommodation, £250 spending money and a whisky blending and tasting session.

For the ‘instant Win’ promotion, people will get scratchcards when they buy a whisky at participating venues – the prizes come in the form of vouchers to be redeemed for a single measure of Whyte & Mackay Scotch Whisky.

The Scotch whisky brand also announced earlier this month that it will be the new headline sponsor of Glasgow’s International Comedy Festival for 2018. The long-running festival will from next year be known as the Whyte & Mackay Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Big names from the stand-up comedy world including David Baddiel, Bridget Christie, Des Clarke, Tommy Tiernan, Katherine Ryan and Rob Delaney have already been signed up to feature in 2018.

Finally, Whyte & Mackay is also running a trade promotion offering retailers or bar owners who buy any mix of three cases of brands including Claymore, Vladivar, Whyte & Mackay, Glayva, Tamnavulin or Jura in one transaction the chance to enter a competition to win a Peugeot van and £500 of Whyte & Mackay stock. At least two of the cases must be of price marked packs. The trade promotion is running until the end of January 2018 at participating cash & carry depots.

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