Essilor Elevates DEFINITY To A Whole New World

08/25/2006

DALLAS – (August 25, 2006) – Essilor of America announces plans for the next chapter of DEFINITY™ with its re-branding marketing campaign, WOW: Wide Open World. Beginning in August, the new look and feel of DEFINITY will demonstrate key benefits of DEFINITY and how it is an ideal lens choice for the active lifestyle of today’s presbyopes by providing the clearest, sharpest vision possible.

“The new marketing campaign, WOW: Wide Open World, speaks to the feedback we received from eye care professionals and patients when they first experience DEFINITY lenses. They are amazed by the clarity, minimal distortion, wider intermediate and peripheral vision, and smooth transition that DEFINITY offers,” said Francois Glon, general manager, DEFINITY. “Most importantly, DEFINITY provides patients with the opportunity to take on a whole new world of possibilities. Patients experience a new sense of freedom with DEFINITY – they can enjoy activities without limitations and maintain an active lifestyle.”

New sales materials will be introduced featuring the WOW logo, including sales aids for DEFINITY and DEFINITY SHORT™, patient brochures, dispensing mats and reading cards. The new face of DEFINITY will focus on three color pallets: green to signify the active, strong lifestyle DEFINITY helps patients maintain; berry to demonstrate the excitement and passion of DEFINITY; and yellow to show the optimism and light that DEFINITY brings to patients.

DEFINITY is the perfect lens for the active lifestyles of today’s presbyopes. With superior intermediate vision and the least amount of unwanted astigmatism, DEFINITY makes computer use, driving or any other everyday activity more comfortable.

Introduced nationwide in 2005, DEFINITY uses a patented, two-surface, offset design and digital surfacing to significantly reduce distortion. DEFINITY features a breakthrough exclusive technology, known as DUAL ADD®, which maximizes the available design space of the lens and allows for the least amount of peripheral distortion, while providing a smoother transition between all distances. Through DUAL ADD Technology and digital surfacing, the add power is uniquely split over both the front and back of the lens to optimize optics and minimize distortion.

DEFINITY also features GROUND VIEW ADVANTAGE™, which is located beneath the near zone and reduces the near add power to help minimize distortion and flatten the field of vision. This provides clearer vision when looking down, making going up and down stairs, participating in outdoor activities or navigating uneven surfaces easier.

Both DEFINITY and DEFINITY SHORT are available in polarized, and are the premium progressives for primary and secondary lens choices. These polarized options provide 100 percent UVA and UVB protection and are available in gray and brown. DEFINITY SHORT is the only digitally surfaced short-corridor progressive lens available today. DEFINITY SHORT is a short channel PAL that maintains the superior benefits of the DUAL ADD design and GROUND VIEW ADVANTAGE that can be fitted into smaller, more fashionable frames. DEFINITY and DEFINITY SHORT are also available with Crizal Alizé with Clear Guard™, which has unparalleled durability, superior cleanability and smudge resistance that provides wearers the clearest vision possible.

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Essilor is the leading manufacturer of optical lenses in the United States and is the market leader in progressive,  high-index and anti-reflective coated lenses. A pioneer in the development and production of ophthalmic lenses,  Essilor employs more than 8,500 people throughout North America. Essilor manufactures optical lenses under the  Varilux®, Crizal®, Thin&Lite®, DEFINITY™ and other Essilor brand names. Essilor Laboratories of America (ELOA) is the largest, and most trusted, optical lab network in the U.S. and offers a wide choice of services and lens brands, including Essilor premium lenses, to eye care professionals across the nation. Essilor of America, Inc. (Essilor) is a  subsidiary of Paris-based Essilor International, S.A., a publicly held company traded on the Euronext Paris stock  exchange (Reuters: ESSI.PA).

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Varilux, Crizal, Thin&Lite, and DUAL ADD are registered trademarks and DEFINITY, DEFINITY SHORT, and GROUND VIEW ADVANTAGE are trademarks of Essilor International. Crizal Alizé with Clear Guard is a trademark of Essilor of America, Inc.