Arizona Couple Takes Grand Prize in Duck(R) Brand 2012 Stuck at Prom(R) Scholarship Contest

AVON, OH--(Marketwire - Jul 13, 2012) - Several months, 127 hours and 18 rolls of Duck Tape^® designing have paid off in a big way for Lara Ford and Cole Sudduth. Duck^® brand today announces that the Mesa, Ariz. couple out-styled 234 other competitors throughout North America to claim the Grand Prize spot in the 12^th Annual Stuck at Prom® Scholarship Contest. 

Lara and Cole won the most votes in a competitive online voting period on StuckatProm.com, where the public chose their favorites among the Stuck at Prom® Top 10 Couples. The Grand Prize winners take home $5,000 each in scholarship money, and Desert Ridge High School, which hosted the prom they attended, also receives $5,000.

Stuck at Prom® invites high school students from the United States and Canada to use Duck Tape® to create outstanding, one-of-a-kind prom wear for a chance to win scholarship money. A panel of judges chose the Top 10 Couples on June 18 for their workmanship, originality, use of colors, accessories and use of Duck Tape®, and the public voted for the top three couples.

"The Duck® brand team is continually amazed by the innovative designs and use of Duck Tape® we see in our Stuck at Prom® entrants, and this year was no exception," said Scott Sommers, director of marketing for ShurTech Brands, the makers of Duck® brand duct tape. "This year's contest also showed how savvy our entrants are getting at promoting themselves via Facebook® and Twitter® campaigns. We loved seeing so many young people engage and share their stories about the versatility of Duck Tape® and Stuck at Prom®, and we can't wait to see what students come up with for next year's contest. "

Lara and Cole's Duck Tape^® inspiration began with a desire to create a look that mixed vintage romance with red carpet fashion. Crafting prom attire covered in delicate Duck Tape^® lace, as well as intricate hand-painted designs, the couple's final ensemble was truly a haute couture Duck Tape^® creation.

Second place winners Kelvin Abe and Kailie Grinder, from Honolulu, Hawaii, dazzled voters with their unique, rock diva-inspired prom wear, and take home $3,000 each in scholarship money, plus $3,000 goes to the school that hosted the prom they attended, Hawaii Baptist Academy. Brooke Wallace and Mark Aylward, from New Cambria and Solomon, Kan., respectively, received third place honors with their western-themed design, winning $2,000 each as well as $2,000 for Solomon High School, which hosted the prom they attended. The seven remaining couples from the Top 10 each take home $500 as well as $500 for the school that hosted the proms they attended.

Duck® brand also announces today the six Honorable Mention winners for best accessories:

• Best purse: Becca Jeffers, 18, and Nick Shepard, 18, of Springville, N.Y.; attended prom at Springville Griffith Institute, Entry #5946
  
  
• Best corsage: Lisa Chiba, 18, and Noah Geiger, 16, of Rapid City, S.D.; attended prom at Stevens High School, Entry #6062
  
  
• Best shoes: Hailey McDermott, 18, of Bark River, Mich., and Scott Jorasz, 18, of Wilson, Mich.; attended prom at Bark River-Harris High School, Entry #6030
  
  
• Best tie: Michelle Washington, 20 and Adam Washington, 18, of Pasadena, Calif.; attended prom at Blair High School, Entry #6162
  
  
• Best jewelry: Kelsey Lancina, 18, and Ian Holtz, 18, of South Rockwood, Mich.; attended prom at Airport High School, Entry #6146
  
  
• Best prop: Holly Raglow, 18, and David Smithern, 17, of Mason, Mich.; attended prom at Mason High School, Entry #6058
  
  

Each Honorable Mention winner receives a Duck Tape^® Prize Pack that includes more than 40 Duck Tape^® colors and prints.

Go to StuckatProm.com to view this year's outstanding entrants, or to get inspiration for next year's Stuck at Prom^® Scholarship Contest!

DUCK TAPE^® BRAND DUCT TAPE

An American original, Duck^® brand is known for its quality and innovation which now includes more than 100 colors, prints and licenses. Duck^® brand duct tape is available nationally at mass merchandise, craft, hardware, home center, food, drug, office, auto and specialty retailers in colors like aqua, fluorescent green, pink, orange and yellow, and prints such as Hello Kitty^®, SpongeBob SquarePants^®, Spider-Man^®, Zig-Zag Zebra^®, Spotted Leopard^™, and Hot Rod^™. Duck^® brand also offers College Duck Tape^® and the new NFL^® Team Logo Duck Tape^® brand duct tape featuring logos from favorite college and NFL^® teams.

Duck Tape^® is marketed by ShurTech Brands, LLC, and the Duck^® brand, which offers an array of tapes, packaging supplies and home products that provide simple, imaginative and helpful solutions for a variety of tasks around the home, school and office. Visit DuckBrand.com for additional product information. And, keep up-to-date on Duck^® brand news by joining our more than five million fans on Facebook^® (facebook.com/ducktape) or by following us on Twitter^® (@theduckbrand).

SHURTECH BRANDS
ShurTech Brands, LLC, markets do-it-yourself tapes, office and housewares products under the Duck^®, Painter's Mate Green^®, FrogTape^®, Caremail^®, Easy Liner^® and Shurtape^®  brands. The company is a subsidiary of Shurtape Technologies, LLC, Hickory, N.C., an industry-leading producer of pressure sensitive masking, duct, packaging and specialty tape products, with facilities in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Peru, United Arab Emirates and China. Shurtape services numerous markets, including industrial, packaging, HVAC, professional paint, auto, marine, aerospace, arts and entertainment, and retail. Shurtape also manufactures and markets the Shurtape^® and Kip^® brands. Visit www.shurtech.com for more information.

Hello Kitty^® is a registered trademark of Sanrio, Inc.
SpongeBob SquarePants^® is a registered trademark of Viacom International Inc.
Spider-Man^® is a registered trademark of Marvel Characters, Inc.
NFL^® is a registered trademark of the National Football League
Twitter^® is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc.
Facebook^® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.