Krispy Kreme was an exclusively southern tradition until the Lev family came along in 1992 and purchased the company's first franchise rights and brought Krispy Kreme to New York. Even the principals at Krispy Kreme Corporation were dubious about how the doughnuts would fare in this unfamiliar territory. When Krispy Kreme hired CIIC, we determined that in order to make Krispy Kreme the most celebrated doughnut in New York, we would need to develop a campaign that would ensure that the doughnuts were tasted by the most celebrated people in the city. As a result, Krispy Kreme was enjoyed -- and then quickly endorsed -- by Rosie O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Kevin Bacon, Candice Bergen and Sarah Jessica Parker -- just to name a few. Once the doughnuts' celebrity was established, we began a campaign to make young Howard Lev, the company's president, a celebrity himself, the outcome of which has been numerous interviews in such publications as the New York Times, USA Today, InStyle, Elle, GQ-as well as Time Out's designation of Lev as one of most intriguing New Yorkers around. (Sorry, girls; he recently married.) The fund-raising programs that we implemented on behalf of Krispy Kreme of New York have become the paradigm for all successive Krispy Kreme franchises. In fact, the success of the Krispy Kreme franchise program nationwide is due to the success of their New York forerunner. CIIC also launched the Krispy Kreme in the state of Maryland.