ROBIN THICKE, ED SHEERAN, 2 CHAINZ, FALL OUT BOY AND MORE SURPRISE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN "RANDOM ACTS OF mtvU: VMA EDITION" AIRING ON MTV AND mtvU STARTING AUGUST 18

Students Surprised with a Celebrity PSA to Support "Boston Strong," Iconic VMA Experience Presented by Pepsi, Best Buy Shopping Spree and Windows Phones

New York, NY (August 14, 2013) - MTV and mtvU today announced that the networks are teaming up with Robin Thicke, Ed Sheeran, 2 Chainz, Fall Out Boy, Jason Derulo, Tegan & Sara, Timeflies, the cast of "Pretty Little Liars" and official sponsors Best Buy, Pepsi and Windows Phones, to surprise several worthy college students in its "Random Acts of mtvU: VMA Edition." The program is part of mtvU's ongoing "Random Acts of mtvU" series, which celebrates extraordinary college students across the country.

Starting Sunday, August 18 and premiering throughout the week leading up to the "2013 MTV Video Music Awards," MTV and mtvU will air segments in which hardworking, civic-minded and talented students are surprised with messages from celebrities to support the "Boston Strong" initiative; a once in a lifetime iconic VMA experience with performer Katy Perry, courtesy of Pepsi and mtvU; a Best Buy shopping spree; and Windows Phones to create visual interpretations of VMA-nominated songs. Each segment will premiere on MTV and subsequently run on mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network that reaches nearly 9 million students on more than 750 college campuses. The "2013 MTV Video Music Awards" air on Sunday, August 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

The special programming includes:

· Sunday, August 18: "Boston Strong." "Random Acts of mtvU: VMA Edition" begins in Boston, where three Emerson College students - Nick Reynolds, Chris Dobens and Lane Brenner - took immediate action in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings and began the "Boston Strong" t-shirt campaign. They printed this motto on thousands of t-shirts and hoped to sell about 100, but instead sold 57,000 shirts, raising nearly $1 million for The One Fund, which was set up to assist survivors of the attack. mtvU star and Emerson alum Quinn Marcus surprised these three students with an mtvU camera crew to let them know that Robin Thicke, Ed Sheeran, 2 Chainz, Fall Out Boy, Jason Derulo, Tegan & Sara, the cast of "Pretty Little Liars" and MTV's Sway Calloway united to thank the students by creating a special video they can use as a Public Service Announcement to continue support for the "Boston Strong" message. The students were also rewarded with tickets to the "2013 MTV Video Music Awards." Click here to watch the video.

· Monday, August 19: "Best Buy's Aspiring Hip Hop Artist." MTV "Girl Code" star and popular radio personality Nessa stunned Montclair State University graphic design major Samy Saez, an aspiring hip hop artist and songwriter. Inspired by a deceased friend to keep chasing his dreams as a musician, Samy has been diligently working toward a career in the music business. As a reward for his hard work, mtvU and Best Buy gifted Samy with tickets to the "2013 MTV Video Music Awards," as well as a Best Buy back-to-school shopping spree, tech-fitting him with all the tools and equipment he will need to succeed in the design and music industries.

· Tuesday, August 20: "Iconic VMA Performance Presented by Pepsi." MTV's Sway Calloway dropped into a summer session class at CUNY Queens College to surprise a group of students with an iconic summer experience. To reward these students for their hard work in the classroom this summer, mtvU and Pepsi invited them to attend an exclusive VMA experience with performance by Katy Perry, where these lucky students will rock out as she hits the stage with her new single, "Roar," live for the very first time.

· Wednesday, August 21: "Windows Phone's Song of Summer Reinvented." mtvU partnered with Microsoft's Windows Phone to find six rising college stars who excel in artistic disciplines ranging from photography to filmmaking. Pop duo Timeflies surprised the students by letting them know that their artistic visualization of the "Best Song of the Summer" award category will be featured at Microsoft's pre-VMA event in the week leading up to the "2013 MTV Video Music Awards." To do this, each student was given a brand new Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows phone with a 41 megapixel camera, and tasked with creating a visual interpretation for each nominee in the new category. They will also use the phone to capture content with an all-access pass during the Microsoft event. The selected students are Zach Morrison of Rutgers University; Abdool Laltrapasad of the School of Visual Arts; Rachel and Nicole Effendy of New York University; Olivia Dufour of Connecticut College; and Kahri Jones of Penn State University.

MTV, MTV2 and mtvU launched "Random Acts of mtvU" in May of 2013 by teaming up with Usher, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Nick Cannon and Darren Criss to surprise several worthy students across the country with a kind gesture to celebrate the end of the school year. Those segments can be viewed at www.mtvu.com/shows/random-acts/.

For more information on the "2013 MTV Video Music Awards," visit MTV.com. For more on "Random Acts of mtvU," visit mtvU.com.

About MTV:

MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

About mtvU:

Broadcast to more than 750 college campuses and via top cable distributors in 700 college communities nationwide, mtvU reaches nearly 9 million U.S. college students - making it the largest, most comprehensive television network just for college students. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mtvU can be seen in the dining areas, fitness centers, student lounges and dorm rooms of campuses throughout the U.S., as well as on cable systems from Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS TV, Suddenlink Communications, AT&T u-Verse and nearly 70 others. mtvU is dedicated to every aspect of college life, reaching students everywhere they are: on-air, online and on the campus. mtvU programs music videos from emerging artists that can't be seen anywhere else, news, student life features and initiatives that give college students the tools to advance positive social change. mtvU is always on campus, with hundreds of events per year, including exclusive concerts, giveaways, shooting mtvU series and more. For more information about mtvU, and a complete programming schedule, visit www.mtvu.com.