American Home Shield, the nation's largest provider of home warranties, has launched "Kidstructions: How does it work?," a video contest capturing the natural curiosity and creativity of children as they share their thoughts on how things work around the home. Grand prize winners in two categories will receive a family vacation to Walt Disney World and an American Home Shield Home Protection Plan.

The same two-step entry process applies to both categories: videos featuring children aged 18 months to 5 years, and videos featuring children aged 6 to 12 years old.

  1. Parents (or another adult with parental permission) simply upload a 30-60 second video to their YouTube channel featuring their child explaining how they think their refrigerator, air conditioner, oven or other major home system or appliance works.
  2. Once the adult fills out and submits the required entry form on the American Home Shield Facebook page, their entry is complete. The entry deadline is Feb. 28.

"This is a fun and enjoyable way to get people talking about some of the things in the home that many consumers take for granted - that is, until they stop working," said Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling, chief marketing officer for American Home Shield. "What better way to start the conversation, than to have kids kick things off?"

Vacation packages for grand prize winners will include roundtrip airfare for four to Orlando, three nights stay at a Walt Disney World resort property, dining plans for all guests, and car rental. Four-day Walt Disney World theme park tickets with Park Hopper and Water Park Fun will also be included.

Along with the grand prize, second and third place prizes will also be awarded in each category. Second-place winners will receive a $2,500 savings bond and an American Home Shield Home Protection Plan; third-place winners will each receive an American Home Shield Home Protection Plan.

A two-part selection process will be used to determine the winners. Now through Feb. 28, visitors to the American Home Shield Facebook page and www.ahs.com/kidstructions can vote on their favorite videos. Ten finalists will be selected in each age group: the seven entries with the most votes, plus an additional three entries selected by an American Home Shield panel of judges.

Judges will then rate all finalists based on four criteria: creativity, originality, appropriateness to the theme and quality of expression; contest winners will be announced on or about April 4.

For more information and full entry rules, visit www.ahs.com/kidstructions.

About American Home Shield

American Home Shield founded the home warranty industry in 1971 and remains the industry leader, servicing more than 1.3 million customers across 49 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to its core focus on home protection plans, the company also issues and administers preventative maintenance contracts on major home systems and appliances in 48 states across the country. The Memphis-based company operates three customer service centers, employs approximately 1,800 employees and has a national contractor network made up of over 10,000 independent home-service contractors and more than 45,000 technicians. American Home Shield is a business unit of The ServiceMaster Company, one of the world's largest residential and commercial service networks. The company's brands include Terminix, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec.

About ServiceMaster

With a global network of more than 6,900 company-owned, franchise and licensed locations, Memphis-based ServiceMaster is one of the world's largest residential and commercial service networks. The company's high-profile brands are Terminix, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec. Through approximately 13,000 corporate associates and a franchise network that independently employs an estimated 31,000 additional people, the ServiceMaster family of brands provided services and products to approximately 5 million customers during the last 12 months. The company's market-leading brands provide a range of residential and commercial services including termite and pest control; home warranties and preventative maintenance contracts; furniture repair; home inspections; home cleaning; janitorial services; and disaster restoration. Go to www.servicemaster.com for more information about ServiceMaster or follow the company at twitter.com/ServiceMaster or facebook.com/TheServiceMasterCo.

ServiceMaster
James Robinson, 901-597-7521
James.robinson@servicemaster.com
or
Nicole Ritchie, 901-597-8336
Nicole.ritchie@servicemaster.com