One of the Nation’s Largest Black Art Expos, the Philadelphia International Art Expo, celebrated twenty four years this weekend at Temple University. The aisles were filled with people interested in buying, selling and enjoying works of African American art of all kinds. The Expo was more than just traditional art however; book fairs, writing workshops, live poetry and music, a job fair and even a comedy show were among the many events that took place at the Liacouras Center throughout the weekend (November 13-15). We were onsite Saturday afternoon and were able to greet many happy faces. The ladies receiving the gift bags were very excited about the samples enclosed and couldn’t wait to see if they were winners of one of the $100 gift cards being given away. It only took a few hours to distribute all 2,000 bags. This Expo served as the kickoff of the October Gallery’s 25th Anniversary Celebration taking place next year, which they hope we can also be a part of.

The Rite Aid Beauty the Rite Way program delivers fun and exciting product samples straight into the hands of African American women at local community events throughout the nation. The program, in its 5th year, is completely facilitated by Cosmetic Promotions Inc (CPI) – a national marketing and promotional company that specializes in promoting beauty products for mass retailers and vendors. CPI sends Ethnic models to various conferences and festivals in 5 markets to distribute a total of 20,000 beauty sample bags to female attendees. This year’s bags include products from Rite Aid beauty vendors including Jergens, Just for Me, Softsoap, Blue Star Ointment, Smooth ‘N Shine, Soft Crème, Maybelline Mineral Powder, Mane ‘n Tail and Fantasia Hair Polisher.  In addition, some of the bags contain a prize of a $100 RITE AID gift card.

On Saturday June 27th, Beauty the Rite Way models will be onsite during the first day of the 17th Annual D.C. Caribbean Carnival. The two-day Mardi Gras-style fiesta has evolved into one of the nation’s premier carnivals. The annual Carnival is a one-of-a-kind experience that offers the community awareness of Caribbean culture and traditions and welcomes over 500,000 visitors to the nation’s capital each year to enjoy the third largest Carnival destination in North America. The festival will kick off with a three-mile Mardi Gras parade along Georgia Avenue. It will lead right into Banneker Recreation Park where Rite Aid will have a booth displaying a banner and the models will distribute free gift bags to the first 2,000 female attendees. The festival will conclude on Sunday with “De Savannah” a showcase of Caribbean arts & crafts, entertainment, and cuisine.

The entire program is completely coordinated and executed by Cosmetic Promotions Inc who secures the bags, the vendors, and the venues for the program. Rite Aid also has a Hispanic and Teen Beauty Sampling Program.