April 23, 2008

By By Mitchell Peters, L.A.

Not only will Fritos be the "official snack" of Tim McGraw's upcoming Live Your Voice trek, but the food company will also give the country artist his own chips flavor: the limited edition Tim McGraw Spicy Jalape?o Fritos.

Beginning next week, Wal-Mart stores nationwide will carry McGraw's Spicy Jalape?o Fritos. The limited edition chips flavor is part of a larger
partnership between Fritos and McGraw, who will also appear in TV commercials and print advertisements for the brand.

Along with being the "official snack" of McGraw's summer headlining tour, which begins May 9 in Tampa, Fla., Fritos will be the presenter of the "StyleSonic Stage." The stage will feature artists chosen by McGraw who will perform prior to the start of each concert. As a special promotion, McGraw is making StyleSonic music available for free download to everyone who buys a ticket to the tour this year.

KC Masterpiece and Kingsford are sponsoring the tour. Live Nation is
promoting, under Brian O'Connell's direction, and the tour will play primarily LN sheds.

McGraw has become known for innovative, multi-faceted sponsorships. Last year, the Jeep-sponsored Soul2Soul II tour captured the inaugural Billboard Concert Marketing & Promotion Award at the Billboard Touring Conference, determined by more than 30,000 online votes from both fans and the industry at Billboard.com and Billboard.biz.

Additional reporting by Ray Waddell, Nashville

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