Thursday, January 29, 2009

Teen Service Announcement (TSA) provides testimonials in support of new teen-led social change platform


MINNEAPOLIS, January 28, 2008 – Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) today unveiled a new TSA (“Teen Service Announcement”) featuring Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Ludacris at www.at15.org. Ludacris participated in the TSA as an early supporter of @15, a new teen-led social change platform underwritten by Best Buy to give teens a voice and give them opportunities to direct the company’s philanthropy through the newly-created @15 Fund.

Christopher Bridges, better known by his stage name Ludacris, is a three-time Grammy Award-winning American hip-hop artist and actor. He is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Ludacris is the highest-selling Southern hip-hop solo artist of all time with over 15 million units sold in the United States.

“We all make mistakes, but you have to learn from your mistakes. Try not to make the same mistakes twice in life. We all have teenage years where we kind of were rebellious and just doing things that we’re finding out about life,” said Ludacris in his online TSA. “We’ve all been through some bad situations and you learn from them and you become a better person because of it. Adversity can make you a stronger person.”

Like a traditional PSA, the @15 TSAs are short, unscripted videos that share the collective thoughts and experiences of teens – and former teens – with messages of hope and inspiration for America’s youth. Over the next several months, the @15 Web site, along with its social networking pages and YouTube channel, will feature messages from teens engaged in Best Buy programs, celebrities and musicians, and Members of Congress.


About @15
Best Buy believes in the power of teens, and @15 is a new platform to connect with them, give voice to their perspectives, and invest our resources – including the energy and talents of our employees – to turn their ideas into action and support their efforts to lead social change. Teens bring passion and enthusiasm to tackling tough issues. They’re also important to our business – they shop in our stores, and they’re our future employees. There’s a real opportunity to listen to – and learn from – what teens have to say. And through the @15 Fund, we’ll put the philanthropic power of @15 directly into their hands. To learn more, visit www.at15.org.

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