San Diego-based Allerca is currently taking orders for $4,000 "allergy-free" pet cats. One hitch: Advance orders now stretch into 2008, with some customers offering to pay $6,000 to shorten the wait. Allerca founder Simon Brodie says he started by trying to genetically engineer a low-allergy cat, but during the early testing stages his team accidentally stumbled on animals that seemed to be naturally sniffle-free. The work has prompted strong skepticism from a rival company. "I don't think you can have a non-GM hypoallergenic cat," says David Avner, founder of Felix Pets in Denver, Colorado, which is attempting to use genetic modification (GM) to create low-allergy pets. Avner says that Allerca should publish data showing whether proteins from the cats' skin and hair bind to human antibodies in the test tube, a process that underpins the allergic reaction. Brodie stands by his product, which includes a fully vaccinated kitten and a complementary test for existing allergens in your home. "If these scientists are skeptical, and if they happen to be allergic themselves, come and hold one of our cats." Read the whole story...

In the 1960s, Sue Doyle, her daughter, Barbara Doyle O'Connell, and granddaughter, Susan Weatherhead, starred in TV and print ads carrying the tagline "Young-looking skin runs in an Ivory Soap family." Yesterday, Weatherhead and O'Connell helped pick another Ivory family as part of Procter & Gamble's campaign to launch Ivory Lavender, the brand's third-generation product. A suburban Chicago family--Mary Rose Bell and Sandra and Alexandra Mecklenburg--became the new, three-generation Ivory family who will appear on www.ivory.com this month and possibly star in future Ivory ads. P&G said it began a nationwide search in January for a new mother-daughter-granddaughter Ivory family by asking applicants to write about the traditions they pass down through the generations. Bell, 52, Mecklenburg, 32, and Alexandra, 6, have a tradition of beginning Christmas at the stroke of midnight and saying "I love you" to each other at least once a day. The family will receive a $40,000 scholarship and a year's supply of Ivory Lavender. With its updated "Generations" campaign, P&G joins the growing list of advertisers--including Chevrolet, Chrysler, Klondike and Alka-Seltzer--that have tried to drum up sales by harkening back to popular ads of the past. Read the whole story...

A consortium of major marketers is behind a 10-store test of infrared-sensor technology that measures the traffic in front of supermarket-aisle promotional displays. Consumer-products companies are using increasingly sophisticated displays to capture shoppers' attention right before they decide which product to buy. Figuring out the return on investment of these dollars isn't easy. Retailers have long counted the number of shoppers who enter and exit their stores, and they can use product bar-code data to track which items were purchased. But for consumer-products companies to analyze how well their in-store marketing campaigns worked, they need to know how many people walked past their promotional display but weren't persuaded to buy. Participants in the study hope the new measurement can also help to predict which aisles in particular stores get the most traffic. Members of the consortium include Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, 3M, Kellogg, Miller Brewing and Wal-Mart Stores. Before the system can be rolled out broadly, the group has to bring in a market-research firm to expand the study and determine how to apply the measurement to a bigger group of stores. Study organizers say the method won't invade shoppers' privacy, but say they'll proceed cautiously. Read the whole story...

Kohl's department stores will announce a deal today to offer Food Network kitchen products, tableware and linens starting next fall. The exclusive retail deal with E.W. Scripps' popular cable TV network follows a recent pact with designer Vera Wang. The retailer's year-old foray into exclusive merchandise has helped the value-oriented stores rebound from a 2004 sales slump. Exclusive merchandise--including the Ralph Lauren Chaps brand, Candies' shoes and apparel and four Estée Lauder makeup lines found only at Kohl's--now account for 8 percent of the soon-to-be 800-store chain's sales. Kohl's president Kevin Mansell says he hopes the 35 million monthly Food Network viewers will boost sales in the stores' already-thriving home-goods departments, which he says is its strongest area of growth. Although few TV brands besides ESPN and Nickelodeon have been able to establish themselves outside of TV, Food Network president Brooke Johnson believes Food Network can, due to its "very precise, defined focus on the world of food." Read the whole story...