• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, January 19, 2005

Talking Goldfish. Diet Snapple. Diet campaigns. Let's launch!

Jenny Craig made a shrewd marketing alliance when it signed actress Kirstie Alley as its "celebrity" client of 2005. Alley has been more than up front when discussing her desire to lose weight - it even prompted Showtime to give Alley her own series, called "Fat Actress." A former Jenny Craig member, Alley's goal is to lose more than 50 pounds with the new Jenny YourStyle personalized program, an approach to weight loss addressing food, body, and mind. TV ads featuring Alley launched on Jan. 10 and were created by J. Walter Thompson, New York. The commercials follow Alley as she loses weight and feature testimonials of her personal experiences on the Jenny Craig Program. And she blogs! Alley will submit weekly entries to the Jenny Craig Web site.

Slim-Fast Foods took a different approach to weight loss campaign and uses "real people" in its integrated campaign. The campaign shows Slim-Fast dieters and their personal weight loss success stories in an effort to support the Slim-Fast Optima Diet. The women featured in the ads were selected from thousands of dieters who wrote Slim-Fast sharing weight loss success stories. Two 30-second spots will air nationally on broadcast and cable. There is also a 15-second spot that focuses solely on the Optima Diet. Print ads will run in major weekly and monthly consumer publications. The Slim-Fast Optima Diet mixes and matches more favorite foods with Slim-Fast meal bars, smoothies, and shakes. Ogilvy created the campaign.

We're not done with celebrities and their diet secrets just yet. TRIMSPA launched its latest commercial featuring Anna Nicole Smith last month. The ad shows a newly svelte Anna Nicole on her "MAGIC" bed - complete with video footage from her E! reality TV show. The ad was filmed at The MAGIC Marketplace 2004, an event where Smith launched her new clothing line, "Anna Nicole." Someone's holding on to her 15th minute of fame for dear life.

After 40 years, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish has itself a talking spokesfish. "Finn" made his TV debut last week, where people hear him talk, joke, and develop ways to protect Goldfish snacks from being eaten by humans. Finn will be seen in four 30-second ads and three 15-second spots that will run during primetime shows. The first two ads feature Cheddar Goldfish crackers, while the third and fourth spots highlight Goldfish Sandwich Snackers and Flavor Blasted Goldfish. The campaign was created by BrightHouseLive, Atlanta. Some useless trivia to take home with you today. Did you know that Americans consume more than 85 billion Goldfish crackers each year? If strung head to tail, the Goldfish crackers would wrap around the Earth more than 30 times.

Thank you Snapple! For bringing Wendy back to your TV spots. Snapple's TV, radio, and online campaign launched on Monday and introduced viewers to two new flavors: Diet Plum-A-Granate Iced Tea and Diet Lemonade Iced Tea. Wendy's unmistakable voice will be heard in the television ads created by Cliff Freeman & Partners. The ads open with Snapple fans being interviewed about their favorite flavor. In the next scene, acquaintances of the Snapple fan "return the favor" by saying something "nice." Each of the ads features the tag line: "The best flavors on Earth, made for the best people on Earth." "Vicki-Scuba" features a private investigator that loves Diet Snapple Apple because it doesn't taste like a diet drink. Wendy's voice cuts in and thanks Vicki for saying something nice about Snapple and then introduces a married couple who are Vicki's neighbors. They say that she is so good at her job that she could find the lost city of Atlantis - if she was given Scuba gear. The campaign is running during "Desperate Housewives," "Alias," "Two & Half Men" "CSI: New York," and "Smallville," and on CMT, TBS, TNT, E!, HGTV, Spike TV, FX, Lifetime, The Food Network, and Comedy Central. The spots will air through February and return during the summer.

The Food Network has launched its largest campaign ever - to promote "Iron Chef America," which premiered Jan. 16. But will it be as good as the original "Iron Chef?" Not unless it has its own Ohta - and his constant attempts to get his boss "Fukui-San's" attention. Although it sounds more like he's saying "squeeze-san" to many viewers. Ads are running during "The Today Show," "Late Show With David Letterman," and on cable networks including VH1, Comedy Central, and TNT/TBS. Print ads will run in People and TV Guide. There will be a 12-page special insert in People, which offers tailgating recipes and tips from the Iron Chef Americans. Outdoor ads will be seen in trains on MetroNorth Railroad in the New York area (seen them) and on billboards in Los Angeles. The network's tag line for the campaign is "Put some Iron in your diet." The ads were created in-house.

Connecticut casino Mohegan Sun has launched a TV, radio, print, and outdoor campaign that positions Mohegan Sun as a place that offers many ways to get away from life's daily routines. The campaign, created by kirshenbaum bond + partners, New York, debuted Jan. 12. The ads depict Mohegan Sun through the eyes of its guests. Each TV spot is a monologue, commenting on the activity a guest is currently involved in. In "Faking," a man is unsure of how to play craps, but is having a great time pretending; "Dancing" shows a woman on a girl's night out, deciding to dance with men she normally wouldn't be interested in; and "Seaweed" shows a man enjoying a spa treatment, not caring what his friends will think. Print ads launch in March in publications such as New York, Boston, and Connecticut Magazine and Rhode Island Monthly.

To honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King,Magnum Photos arranged for filmmaker Spike Lee and his brother, photographer David Lee, to select the images to be projected on the digital billboard over the Port Authority building on the corner of 42 Street and Eighth Avenue. The images, which will be displayed from January 15 through 19, is part of the month-long exhibition, "42 Seconds on 42 Street," produced by the Magnum photographers and SmartSign Media.

Philadelphia Soul co-owner Jon Bon Jovi and Colorado Crush co-owner John Elway are making a second AFL mini-movie entitled "Rumble in the Montecito," as part of the AFL's marketing plan for ArenaBowl XIX, which will be held in Las Vegas on June 12. The mini-movie, produced by The NBC Agency, aired in Regal Cinemas, United Artists, and Edwards Theatres throughout December. In addition, a director's cut of "Rumble in the Montecito" is being released as a bonus feature on the "Las Vegas: Season 1" DVD. The mini-movie is also running this month in United Airlines 'In-Flight' segments and will be featured in a broadband promotion partnership with Comcast.net.

The Advertising Council and the National PTA (Parent Teacher Association) have launched public service announcements (PSAs) to encourage parents to become more involved in their children's school and education. Created pro bono by J. Walter Thompson Chicago and Mendoza Dillon, the campaign targets English- and Spanish-speaking parents. The English-language TV spots feature celebrities including Chevy Chase and Lou Diamond Phillips. According to National PTA, only one in four parents are actively involved in their children's schools. That number shrinks to one in nine among working parents whose schedules often present additional challenges. The TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, outdoor, and online ads end with the line, "Know What Really Matters. Know about your kid's school and know about your kid." The Spanish-language PSAs end with a different tag line: "Visit. Participate. Collaborate. Share." and "Be a 4.0 parent."

In Web site launches this week:

CliffsNotes, no explanation needed here, had relaunched its Web site. Roughly 180 literature guides are now available online. The entire content of each title can be viewed for free; students wishing to download and print the content can pay $5.99, the same price as the book. CliffsNotes.com offers a free newsletter that delivers key course information right to students' computers every week, and an interactive advice column, "Ask Cliff."

Click Here of Dallas recently developed LoneStarDriveIn.com on behalf of non-profit Deep Ellum Film, Music, Arts and Noise, Inc. (DEFMAN). The site promotes a lineup of classics from the '30s to the '80s including "Bride of Frankenstein," "Creature From the Black Lagoon," "Grease," and "Back to the Future." The site design evokes nostalgia for the drive-in movie experience by incorporating such elements as a concrete background, vintage signage, and a speaker box built right into the middle of the home page. DEFMAN was founded in 1999 and stages artistic and cultural events to raise funds for people fighting cancer. Proceeds go to The Cancer Relief Fund.