Lifelong friends make Activia commercial

Through all of life’s ups and downs, Carol Addison of Barrington,Flo Mahanna of Arlington Heights and Karen Peters of Chicagohave been there for each other.

That bond was introduced recently to a national audience as Activia yogurt featured the trio in a commercial with spokeswoman Jamie Lee Curtis.

“The whole thing was crazy,” Addison said. “I still get texts from people I know every time it comes on.”

Addison, who owns the CC Additudes boutique in the Just About Nails salon in Palatine, said the group has been friends ever since starting first grade more than 50 years ago on Chicago’s Northwest Side.

Their story, told in a series of videos at activia.us.com, shows Addison as the fun one who keeps others young, Peters as the nurturer who’ll help anyone and Mahanna as a pillar of strength who never missed their monthly Girls Night Out despite a battle with breast cancer.

Their involvement with the commercial began with Peters participating in a market research survey. No one ever expected it to develop into a first-class trip to Hollywood.

“They just wanted real women with no scripts,” Addison said. “We shot eight hours for a 30-second commercial, and we loved every minute of it.”