LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Aug 08, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced the close of its Copa America Argentina 2011 sponsorship with the donation of $80,000 Argentine pesos (approximately U.S. $20,000) to UNICEF Argentina. From the opening kickoff on July 1 to the tournament final on July 24, Canon's sponsorship activities highlighted the Company's innovative image capture technologies and unique ability to capture and output the exciting moments from Latin America's most prestigious soccer tournament.
To support UNICEF Argentina, Canon donated four Argentine pesos (approximately one U.S. dollar) for every vote submitted by fans, up to 1,000 votes per match, for their favorite game image on the "Best Photo" section of the Copa America website ( http://www.ca2011.com/fotos_bestphoto.php ). For each of the 26 matches, up to five images were uploaded to the "Best Photo" section where the public was able to vote on their favorite image. Approximately 20,000 fans voted on the best photos of the tournament with the top photos, as voted by the fans, printed on a Canon imagePROGRAF large format printer and prominently displayed at the main entrance of River Plate stadium before the final match.
"Throughout the Copa America 2011 tournament, Canon staged a number of popular events and activities to increase brand awareness in Latin America and help generate support for UNICEF Argentina," said Taro Maruyama, president, Canon Latin America. "We were thrilled with the positive response to our fan-focused events and the professional services we provided to the photographers covering the tournament. We look forward to continued success in this fast growing region."
Canon's sponsorship also consisted of a variety of commemorative tournament giveaway items, hundreds of fan-face paintings, more than 6,600 fan photos captured and printed on Canon equipment, exciting product displays featuring Canon PowerShot Digital cameras, EOS Digital SLR cameras and PIXMA inkjet printers, as well as highly attended "Click and Print" public-viewing parties for soccer fans in Colombia and Peru.
Canon's activities also included on-site support for the photographers and media covering the tournament. Available at each tournament venue were Canon printers, multifunction products and PowerShot Digital cameras, while experts from Canon Professional Services were on hand to provide well-received service, inspection, cleaning and loan equipment to hundreds of photographers covering the tournament.
For more information about Canon's recently completed Copa America 2011 Argentina Activities please visit Canon's microsite at www.usa.canon.com/copaamerica .
About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. /quotes/zigman/192225/quotes/nls/caj CAJ +2.01% , a top patent holder of technology, ranked fourth overall in the U.S. in 2010+, with global revenues of more than US $45 billion and is listed as number five in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies 2011 list. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei -- "all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future" -- Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei . To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss .
About Copa America Argentina 2011(TM)
Copa America, first played in 1916, is the oldest national team championship in the world and features three of the winningest teams in the history of soccer: Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay which amongst them have won 9 of 19 World Cups and 36 of 42 Copas America. The tournament was originally known as the South American National Team Championship and played during a longer period of time with home and away matches throughout the region. Traffic Sports, the commercial rights agency for Copa America, restructured the tournament in 1987 to be consistent with the World Cup and Euro formats in one host country during a several week period. Several of the greatest players in the history of soccer have displayed their talent at Copa America such as Argentines, Maradona and Di Stefano, Brazilians Pele and Garrincha, Urguguayan, Pedro Rocha, Paraguayan, Romerito, Chilean Figueroa and Colombian Rincon. The last Copa America, hosted by Venezuela in 2007, was broadcast to 188 countries and showcased Argentine Lionel Messi, and Brazilian, Robinho as rising international stars.
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SOURCE: Canon U.S.A., Inc.
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