【1982 Archives】

Amazon982 Archivesawarding the star spellers of this year's national bee with some of their very first endorsement deals.

Through its sponsorship of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the Internet giant is running four commercials during Thursday night's finals competition that feature a roster of some of this year's semi-finalists. The campaign marks the first time Amazon has teamed with the prestigious spelling tournament.

In the two 30-second spots provided to Mashable, the kids, aged 6 to 14, talk about their work ethic and their interests outside of deconstructing ridiculously challenging words. Another is dedicated to the supportive families that have helped the contestants succeed.

The campaign's overarching focus is a shared love of reading that's meant to promote Amazon's Kindle e-reader device.

"We wanted to make sure they focused on the kids," Neil Lindsay, Amazon's vice president of devices told Mashablein an email. 

"We frankly wanted to shed light on just how difficult this competition is and what it takes to be a champion – these are not easy words, and it’s impressive to watch a 6-year-old accurately and enthusiastically spell out loud a word you’ve likely never even heard before."

The semi-finalists, some of whom will already be eliminated by the time the ads air, are among the top 285 of the 11 million students across the country who participate in the yearly competition. The 45 winners from that group will go on to vie for a $40,000 cash purse in Thursday night's final, televised on ESPN.

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