Master Lock(R) Master Mind: New Expert on Student Life Will Help You Survive the School Year

MILWAUKEE, WI--(Marketwire - Jul 12, 2011) - While Master Lock might not have a physics expert on-hand to help students with their science homework, the company has hired a new specialist on student life to help students safely and securely navigate this school year in style. The Master Mind, a suave and funny college grad, will be introduced to fans on the Master Lock^® Facebook page beginning July 18 via a humorous online video series in which he, along with his clever Little Sister, will set out to answer students' most frequent, awkward and perplexing questions. Master Lock also invites students and parents to submit their own questions to the Master Mind and participate in a daily sweepstakes through September 16 at www.Facebook.com/MasterLock for a chance to win back-to-school must-haves, including popular Master Lock school and campus security products to help families prepare for the upcoming school year.

"Master Lock goes beyond providing the best products to help students maneuver through the school year safely and securely," said Rebecca Smith, vice president, marketing for Master Lock. "We also want to be a resource for students, and their parents, as they prepare to head back to school or to a college campus for the first time by offering candid advice from someone who's been there before and can ease their anxiety."

The worldly Master Mind and his clever Little Sister will offer advice via a humorous online video series in which the characters appear in awkward situations, providing a creative solution to the problem at hand. Consumers will be asked to submit their own questions related to student life and security for a chance to be one of the next featured video topics, or for the opportunity to have the Master Mind answer their question on the Master Lock Facebook page.

Visitors to the Master Lock^® Facebook page will also have the opportunity to enter into daily and weekly prize drawings, conducted each weekday from July 18 through September 16. Prizes include back-to-school essentials for any student, such as an iPad^®, high-end ear buds, messenger bag or backpack, bank gift cards and Master Lock^® security products. Fans can enter daily, including weekends, and all entrants will automatically be entered in a grand prize sweepstakes for the ultimate back-to-school prize pack valued at $2,500, to be drawn on September 19.

About the Products
While solving perplexing student situations -- including the fear of the forgotten locker lock combination -- the video series will also showcase some of Master Lock's newest and coolest back-to-school accessories, including the 1500iD Speed Dial^™ Set-Your-Own Combination Lock and the 1590D Precision Dial^™ Set-Your-Own Combination Lock. Both products feature resettable combination mechanisms, ensuring students will never need to worry about forgetting their lock combination again.

The innovative Speed Dial features a first-of-its-kind design that opens on directional movement -- up, down, left and right -- instead of the traditional rotary dial. The resettable combination lock is faster to open than traditional locks, saving students valuable time between classes or at the gym, and is ideal for visually impaired students, as users don't need to see the lock to open it. For those who prefer alternate methods of recalling their combination, the lock includes adhesive letters, numbers, colors, shapes and symbols that can be applied over the lock's directional arrows. The Speed Dial retails for $8.99 and is available in red, blue, white and black colors, and a new white with pink breast cancer awareness design.

The Precision Dial offers a resettable combination solution for users more comfortable with a traditional rotary dial. Students can leave memorization for their chemistry class and choose their own combination of three letters or numbers. The lock opens with standard right-left-right movements, and is easy to reset with the enclosed reset tool. The Precision Dial retails for $7.99 and is available in black, turquoise, yellow and purple colors, with new white and pink breast cancer awareness designs.

In addition, Master Lock also offers a variety of other security products for all aspects of students' lives at school or on campus, including backpack locks, bike locks, portable mini safes, locking cash boxes, door security bars, pepper spray, and password combination locks.

Locks can be purchased at retailers nationwide as well as on www.Amazon.com.

Never Forget Your Combination
From locker combinations, to lunchroom PIN codes to online account passwords, students suffer from password overload. Thanks to the new Master Lock Vault^™ -- a free, safe and convenient tool for storing and retrieving confidential data -- students and parents never need to worry about losing or forgetting any of their access information again. Users only need to remember one unique password and username that they create on www.masterlockvault.com. In addition, iPhone™ , iPad™, and Android™ users can download the free Master Lock Vault app from their App Store for instant access to stored information anytime, anywhere.

To view the video series, enter the sweepstakes and engage with the Master Mind, visit www.Facebook.com/MasterLock. Videos can also be found on the Master Lock^® YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/masterlockcompany. To download high-resolution product images, visit www.masterlockimages.com. For more information, visit the Master Lock Press Room at www.masterlock.com/about_us/press_room.jsp.

About Master Lock
Master Lock is the world's largest manufacturer of padlocks and related security products providing innovative security solutions for home, automotive, campus, power sports, bike and storage security needs for consumers and contractors alike. Master Lock Company L.L.C. is an operating unit of Fortune Brands, Inc., a leading consumer brands company. Headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) is included in the S&P 500 Index. (www.masterlock.com)

About the Sweepstakes
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. "Master Mind Back to School Sweepstakes" is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, D.C. and Canada (excluding Quebec), 13 years and older (18 years and older in Maine). Void where prohibited. For complete Official Rules, prize descriptions and odds disclosure, visit www.masterlock.com/mastermind. Daily Video Sweepstakes begins on July 18, 2011 at 7:00:01 a.m. CDT and ends on September 17, 2011 at 6:59:59 a.m. CDT. Weekly Sweepstakes opens on July 23, 2011 at 7:00:01 a.m. CDT and ends on September 17, 2011 at 6:59:59 a.m. CDT. Grand Prize Sweepstakes begins on July 18, 2011 at 7:00:01 a.m. CDT and ends on September 17, 2011 at 6:59:59 a.m. CDT. Sponsor: Master Lock Company LLC, 137 W. Forest Hill Avenue, Oak Creek, WI 53154. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, administered, endorsed or associated with Facebook.