Elkhorn-based Fat Brain Toys wins $20K, trip to Facebook HQ

Fat Brain Toys, you’ve just been chosen from among 11,000 companies as one of five winners of the Big Break for Small Business contest. What are you going to do next? Why, they’re going to Facebook land, of course. Fat Brain, based in Elkhorn, Neb., was announced Monday as one of five winners of a…

Fat Brain Toys, you’ve just been chosen from among 11,000 companies as one of five winners of the Big Break for Small Business contest. What are you going to do next?

Why, they’re going to Facebook land, of course.

Fat Brain, based in Elkhorn, Neb., was announced Monday as one of five winners of a trip to Facebook headquarters for a two-day social media makeover and $20,000 for a social media marketing budget as part of the Big Break contest sponsored by Facebook and American Express Open.

(Left: Karen and Mark Carson’s Fat Brain Toys received the second most votes in the Big Break for Small Business contest. Screenshot from facebook.com.)

Some 11,000 companies entered the Big Break contest, and, as we reported at the time, that pool of entrants was whittled down to 10 finalists earlier this month. Two weeks of online voting were used to determine the five winners, and Fat Brain received the second most votes, with 7,169. The top vote-getter, Big Daddy’s Bar-B-Que of Gary, Ind., received 9,825 votes.

Fat Brain, owned by Karen and Mark Carson, is an eight-year-old developer and vendor of toys games and gifts designed to challenge children while they play. The company has a brick and mortar store and does some business via catalogue, but its primary sales channel is online.

“We are so very honored and grateful for your support,” the Carsons said in a note on the company’s Facebook page. In that same message, the Carsons pledged to carry through on the following objectives:

  • To use this exposure to bring about even more consumer awareness to quality, specialty toys and games
  • To use our Facebook training to become more social media savvy, maybe even cutting edge, so that we can grow our community of toy-loving supporters
  • To use the cash prize to further our mission of bringing back great toys to the American household

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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