Good News from Super Bowl XL: Steelers or Seahawks?

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- It's no secret Americans love their football and football fanatics across the country have weighed in on what they would consider to be Good News when the final whistle blows on Super Bowl XL -- a win for the veteran Pittsburgh Steelers or first-timers Seattle Seahawks?

According to the "Aleve Good News Football Fanatics" survey, 52 percent of self-proclaimed football fans say they would personally think it was Good News if the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL; 30 percent of respondents said they thought it would be Good News if the Seattle Seahawks won. The new national survey was conducted by The Segmentation Company, a division of Yankelovich among 1,016 Americans. Of those survey respondents, 52 percent of identified themselves as "football fans."

Good News Keeps Coming

And while it's certain that the outcome of the game can only be Good News for one team, the Super Bowl can be a Good News event for fans on both sides of the year's most celebrated football rivalry. For the first time ever, Aleve over-the-counter pain reliever is advertising during this year's game with a Good News message for the more than 66 million Americans living with minor arthritis pain. The brand enters the universe of Super Bowl advertising with a 30-second spot featuring acclaimed actor-director Leonard Nimoy. The goal of the Aleve Super Bowl ad is to engage, entertain, delight and surprise consumers in a way that is consistent with the brand's personality.

"We think it's Good News that for the first time the Super Bowl will feature an ad that addresses a health issue as important as the pain of arthritis. The Super Bowl is just the first milestone in what we expect to be year filled with Good News for the Aleve brand and people with arthritis pain," said Jay Kolpon, Vice President Marketing and New Business Development, Bayer Consumer Care Division.

The "Good News" marketing initiative, launched at the end of 2005, is a fully integrated campaign that crosses over all marketing efforts on behalf of Aleve including advertising, promotions, public relations, and the "Aleve Good News" web site at http://www.alevegoodnews.com/. The goal of the campaign is to reinforce the brand's commitment to providing a positive influence in people's lives.

About the Survey

This survey was conducted by TSC a division of Yankelovich. These results are based on a telephone survey conducted between January 26-29, 2006 among a sample of 532-1,016 Americans age 18 and older. For results based on the total sample, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

About ALEVE

ALEVE(R) (naproxen sodium) is an over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever that has safely been used by millions of Americans for more than a decade. The Aleve brand provides proven efficacy and the convenience of all-day relief with just two pills for the treatment of aches and pains due to minor arthritis pain, muscular aches, backache, headache, toothache, menstrual pain and pains associated with the common cold.

About Bayer Consumer Care

The Consumer Care Division of Bayer HealthCare LLC, is headquartered in Morristown, N.J. Bayer's Consumer Care Division is among the largest marketers of over-the-counter medications and nutritional supplements in the world. Some of the most trusted and recognizable brands in the world today come from the Bayer portfolio of products. These include Bayer(R) Aspirin, Aleve(R), Flanax(R)/Apronax(R), Alka-Seltzer Plus(R), Bactine(R), RID(R), Phillips(R)' Milk of Magnesia, Midol(R), Alka-Seltzer(R), Talcid(R), Rennie(R), Canesten(R), Bepanthen(R), Bepanthol(R), One-A-Day(R) vitamins, Flintstones(TM) vitamins, Supradyn(R), Redoxon(R), Berocca(R), Cal-D-Vita/Elevit(R), Vital 50 Plus(R), CardioAspirin(R).

Bayer HealthCare AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry. In 2004, the Bayer HealthCare subgroup generated sales amounting to some 8.5 billion Euro. The company combines the global activities of the divisions Animal Health, Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals. Bayer HealthCare employed 35,300 people worldwide in 2004. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover and manufacture innovative products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. The products enhance well-being and quality of life by diagnosing, preventing and treating disease.

Forward-looking statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our public reports filed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 20-F). The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.