Key Data About School Kids Used To Take Months, But With Teh World Wide Web, It Can Be Found In A Fraction Of The Time

Key Data About School Kids Used To Take Months, But With The World Wide Web, It Can Be Found In A Fraction Of The Time

The brown bag beats the lunchbox, Winnie the Pooh outscores Barbie, and a good PB & J will trade for two tuna sandwiches any day of the week!

September 29, 1997

present and the future -- with all of its speed and power reaches

into the school lunchrooms of kids throughout the country to find

that some things never change.

Even the folks at BigYellow^sm (bigyellow.com) -- Bell

Atlantic's national online shopping directory -- found comfort in

knowing that some age-old school lunch traditions stay the same.

In fact, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is still the No. 1

school lunch, a Winnie the Pooh lunchbox will get your kids kudos,

while egg salad still sets off odor alarms well before lunchtime

approaches.

To help ease the anxiety of going back to school, BigYellow

recently conducted the Lunchbox Survey, a fun look at that all

important time of the day, lunch. The Lunchbox Survey -- in

conjunction with BigYellow's "Back to School" section -- asked kids

about their favorite sandwiches and lunchtime treats, and their

most desired lunchbox, among other lunchtime topics.

While the paper bag still wins out among survey

participants as the most popular way to carry lunch, the

lunchbox follows as a close second. And, the Survey found that

while Barbie might be among kids' favorite toys, she's got

nothing on Winnie the Pooh when it comes to carrying their lunch.

Other popular "who's who" among the lunchbox set, in order of

popularity, include Looney Tunes, 101 Dalmatians, The Simpsons,

Mickey Mouse and Dr. Seuss. Surprisingly, the once outrageously

popular purple dinosaur -- Barney -- came in last place.

And, what are kids carrying in those brown paper bags and lunchboxes.

In addition to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread --

the hands down winner -- favorite lunchtime accoutrements include

1) potato chips, 2) an apple and 3) a banana. Still, Mom and Dad

will be glad to know that grapes, oranges, and carrots ranked

fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively, giving fruits and vegetables

a strong presence among the top 10 treats.

"With the world changing so quickly, and today's kids maturing

earlier than generations before, it's surprising to see so much

tradition in the lunchroom," said William Wise, president of Bell

Atlantic Electronic Commerce Services, providers of BigYellow. "On

the other hand, the survey results are based on children filling out

a questionnaire online, and that's not something I could have ever

imagined doing when I was a kid!"

The Lunchbox Survey was conducted over four weeks on the BigYellow

Web site and received more than 300 responses, mostly from elementary

school children. The "Back to School" section also offers parents and

children of all ages useful links about safety, computers/software,

teen advice, fashion, and college life.

With thousands of advertisers, and millions of visitors each

month, BigYellow continues to lead the online shopping industry

in combined sales and usage. Having provided electronic

directory services for more than a decade, Bell Atlantic launched

its first online directory in 1991 and was first on the Web with a

national directory in October 1995.

In addition to its 17 million U.S. businesses listings, BigYellow

features 100 million U.S. residential listings, a national

directory of 15 million E-mail addresses, and links to directories in

39 foreign countries. BigYellow has strategic relationships with

Infoseek, Inc., NBC, Four11, and CNN Interactive, as well as

more than 40 content partners for the most popular topics on its

service. Unique in the industry, BigYellow employs a full-time

Customer Service staff that answers calls during business hours at

1-888-BIGYELLOW.

The new Bell Atlantic, formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic

and NYNEX, is at the forefront of the new communications,

information and entertainment industry. With 40 million telephone

access lines and 5.5 million wireless customers worldwide, Bell

Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced wireline

voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services and the

world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell

Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest investors

in high-growth global communications markets, with operations and

investments in 21 countries.