• Ad Too Hot For U.S. Cleared To Run in U.K.
    A TV ad for a new fragrance form Sean 'P Diddy' Combs featuring the rap star and a scantily clad model has been cleared to run in the U.K. after American regulators deep-sixed it. While the Federal Communications Commission found the spot for Unforgivable Woman too hot for the American tube, Britain's Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre gave it the OK to air -- but only after 9 p.m. Combs stars in the ad and also produced and directed it, pretty much bypassing any need for an ad agency. It shows him meeting a woman in a hotel lobby …
  • NAB Chief Unveils "Radio 2020" Initiative
    The National Association of Broadcasters CEO has unveiled what he calls the "Radio 2020" initiative, which David Rehr describes as a "road map to building radio's future.' Key to the initiative is ensuring that radio is part of new technologies, while also meeting consumer needs for variety and format diversity. Further, "we must continually seek ways to meet the demands of our consumers -- encouraging more variety and diversity, spurring more innovations in electronics, and helping marketers develop even more innovative and compelling advertisements." He notes that one thing about the medium that needs more promotion …
  • Warner, NBC In New Syndie Deals
    Warner Bros. and NBC Universal have finalized three deals, including one that could lead to the launch of a new daytime talk show next year featuring comedian Bonnie Hunt that will run on TV stations owned by NBCU. The company also renewed for its TV stations two highly successful syndicated shows: "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "Extra!" Both are produced by Warner Bros. Under terms off the deals, DeGeneres will run on NBC through 2011 while "Extra" gets until at least 2012. NBC has begun to rely more on Warner after its own production folks came up with …
  • No Nonsense Starts Advertising Again
    After years of almost no advertising, apparel firm No Nonsense has rolled out a modest print and Web campaign in a push by the company, which has barley advertised at all since 2003, when spending was just $304,000. No Nonsense makes socks, tights, sleepwear panties, bras and body shapers and hopes to lose a more matronly reputation with ads featuring young women in the bathroom and running around in knit dresses. According to Denzil Strickland, creative director of agency Garage, "We developed a campaign that celebrates the concept of No Nonsense, while introducing women to new categories of …
  • Martin Snags Gore Group Account
    The Martin Agency has snared the ad account of the Alliance for Climate Protection, a nonprofit group founded last year by Al Gore. The Interpublic shop was tapped for the business after a review that included Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Young & Rubicam and Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami, insiders say. "We chose the Martin Agency because we were impressed by their ability to connect with regular people, and we were impressed by their creative ideas," says ACP communications director Brian Hardwick. "We felt they had a good sense of how to communicate the urgency and solvability of …
  • Honda Rolls New Corporate Campaign
    American Honda Motors has rolled out its first national broadcast corporate image campaign since 2005, backed by a dedicated Web site and print ads. The 30-second spot is themed "Power of Dreams" and shows Honda jet planes, solar racers, test-track racing and safety research set to the classic rock anthem "I Can See for Miles" by The Who. One gimmick is that the video is all "shot" by the company's walking robot, Asimo. The tagline "see what we see," is the first national corporate image work since the "Safety for everyone" campaign two years ago. Todd Carey, …
  • Boom Times For Gay Papers
    While much of the newspaper business is in a deep funk, it is the best of times for gay newspaper publishers, with steady increases in advertising revenue as fewer mainstream companies shy away from the medium. According to the Gay Press Report, ad spending in gay publications, about half of them weeklies, was up 205% between 1996 and 2006 and last year's ad revenues of $223.3 million were up 5.2% over 2005. This at a time when ad spending on daily newspapers is essentially flat. "I think it's a great time to be in gay publishing," says Tracy …
  • Nolita Campaign Gets Heat For Nude Model
    An ad campaign from the Italian label Nolita has drawn fire for using pictures of a nude, emaciated young woman, tag line: "No. Anorexia." Several fashion groups have wanted to improve the industry's image by pushing designers to use healthier, heavier-looking models. But the Nolita campaign has done just the opposite. It has also stirred up controversy: Is the brand raising awareness about anorexia, or profiting from it? Mario Boselli, the president of Italy's fashion-trade group, says he is dismayed by the ads. Fabiola De Clercq, founder and president of ABA--the Italian association against anorexia, bulimia …
  • PTC Rolls Out A La Carte Cable Calculator
    "Family values" pressure group Parents Television Council (PTC) has rolled a new a la carte cable bill calculator based on a menu of network choices with associated subscriber fees, i.e. what cable programmers charge an operator per person to carry their channels. However, the site where the calculator appears -- howcableshouldbe.com -- warns that "programming rates and distributor mark-ups presented are derived from the best publicly available information." Therefore, "the data should not be presented as necessarily factual or accurate." Still, the group is trying to make the point that bills could come down if subscribers could choose …
  • "The War" Pulls Boffo Ratings For PBS
    More than 15.5 million viewers tuned to the 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. premiere of Ken Burns' "The War," with even more catching the repeat at 10:30, according to PBS estimates. That means preliminary figures for the documentary top all but three of his previous offering: "The Civil War" in 1990, "Lewis & Clark" in 1997 and "Baseball" in 1994. "The Civil War" miniseries drew a cumulative audience of 38.9 million viewers, while "Baseball" was seen by 43.1 million, records for the largest total audiences for any program in the net's history. Cumulative numbers for "The War" …
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