Louisville, KY - 12 October, 2005 -

Fans of A&W memorabilia have been collecting the brand’s iconic glass root beer mugs for decades. This year, for the first time, A&W All American Food has made available an ultra-limited-edition mug that will get collectors more excited than ever. Of the 100,000 A&W collector mugs produced for 2005, there are 984 in circulation that have a limited edition design: rather than having an image of a smiling Great Root Bear , these special mugs feature a winking Great Root Bear. “We decided to have some fun with the 2005 A&W mug design, and do something that would get mug collectors excited,” said Steve Provost, Chief Marketing Officer for A&W All American Food. “The brand has been around for 86 years and A&W fans have been collecting mugs for nearly that long. This year, they’re going to have to look a little harder than usual to make sure their collection is complete!” A&W Restaurants inserted the 984 Winking Bear mugs randomly into cases of this year’s collectible A&W mugs, of which a total of 100,000 were produced. The cases of mugs were distributed to A&W restaurants across the country, and there is no way of determining how many of the rare mugs have already been distributed, or where. “That’s been one of the fun things about this project,” Provost added. “We kept it a secret when we came up with the idea; we didn’t even tell our franchisees. And the difference in design of the standard mug and the Winking Bear mug is so subtle that most people wouldn’t have noticed it. I’m sure people will be rushing to their cupboards now, to find out if they got Winking Bear mugs and didn’t even know it!” One sharp-eyed A&W franchisee in Munising, Mich., was an exception though. When Paula White opened her first case of collectible A&W mugs in early June, she spotted one of the rare mugs immediately. “I was pulling mugs out of the case because we were going to give them to six of our employees as graduation presents,” said White, who has been an A&W franchisee for 37 years. “As I was putting them aside, I noticed the bear on one of the mugs was winking. We knew we had something that was rare.” Although most of the 100,000 mugs produced for 2005 have been purchased, some are still available for sale at participating A&W Restaurants. In addition, A&W All American Food has launched a web site dedicated to the ultra-collectible mugs: www.winkingbear.com. The site includes additional information about the Winking Bear mug project, and also provides a couple of last-chance opportunities for collectors who think they’ve missed out. A&W Restaurants will auction off a few sets of mugs on eBay in the coming weeks, with all the proceeds going to the American Red Cross to aid hurricane victims. In addition, the winner of the “What I’d Do to Get a Winking Bear Mug” essay contest will receive a set of 2005 mugs both the collectible Smiling Bear mug and the limited-edition Winking Bear mug. Customers can enter the online essay contest and view the official contest rules at www.winkingbear.com. The contest runs through Nov. 1, 2005. The A&W brand was founded in 1919, and A&W All American Food is famous for serving a signature frosty mug root beer float and All American pure-beef hamburgers and hot dogs. There are more than 675 A&W All American Food outlets in 15 countries and territories around the world, and more than 600 additional points of distribution at Yum! Brands multibrand restaurants. A&W Restaurants, Inc. is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., Louisville, Ky.

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