• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, January 28, 2004

Guinness prepares for St. Patrick's Day two months early. Dr Pepper recruits musicians. Super Bowl ads. Welcome to highlights of ad campaigns launched this week.

Dr Pepper has launched TV ads for both its regular and diet Dr Pepper. The four 30-second spots were created by Young & Rubicam New York, and use the company's "Be You" tagline. The ads feature up-and- coming musical artists paying tribute to pioneers of a particular genre. Country music star LeAnn Rimes pays tribute to Reba McEntire while on the road in the desert; B2K celebrates the achievements of Smokey Robinson in a recording studio and Latin singer Patricia Manterola pairs up with Ana Gabriel at a rural train station for an upbeat commercial, which was recorded in Spanish and English. The spots began airing in January on network and cable TV.

Guinness USA launched a TV campaign last week urging consumers to "Treat St. Patrick's Day like a real holiday." The ad, created by BBDO New York, compares celebrating St. Patrick's Day to other popular holidays as part of an effort designed to make St. Patrick's Day more than just a one-day celebration. In the first spot, which debuted on CBS during the NFL playoffs, three men can be seen waking on St. Patrick's Day morning, and rushing downstairs to excitedly discover gifts of Guinness Draught in a bottle under a Guinness keg tree. The ads will air nationally through March.

Let the Super Bowl ads begin. Frito-Lay will debut an ad for Lay's potato chips during the big game. The ad will serve to re-launch Lay's and let people know that the potato chips are crispier than ever. The ad, entitled "Grandparents," shows what can happen when a grandson leaves his "loving" grandparents alone with only one bag of Lay's chips. The ad shows the lengths the couple goes to so they can "sink their teeth" into the now crispier chips. The 30-second spot was created by BBDO New York and will air during the second quarter of the Super Bowl.

Also launching Super Bowl spots, Monster will debut two; "Soulmates" and "I Feel Love," will air during the first and third quarters, respectively. The 30-second spots encourage job seekers to further their careers and lives as part of the company's brand campaign and new tagline, "Today's the Day." The spots were created by Deutsch New York. "Soulmates" showcases the parallel lives of two men - an executive and a job seeker - who awaken and dress in separate worlds. The ad looks at their respective morning rituals to reveal surprisingly similar character traits - like a mutual affinity for argyle socks, crossword puzzles, and frosted, sprinkle-covered donuts. The spot ends with the two men shaking hands at the start of a job interview.

Keeping with job recruiting websites, Cramer-Krasselt has created the latest campaign for CareerBuilder.com. The campaign, which includes three TV spots and nine newspaper ads, focuses on employees trapped in unsatisfactory jobs and longing to escape. The ad debuted the first week of January. The 30-second spots feature frustrated workers who, in a final moment of courage and inspiration, take drastic steps to break out of dead-end jobs and move on to something better. In one spot, an assembly line worker in a toy factory disguises himself as an oversized Teddy bear and smuggles himself out in a shipment of stuffed animals. The company tagline remains the same; "The smarter way to find a better job." The campaign will run throughout 2004.

Global Crossing is aiming to reestablish its brand with a campaign launch timed to coincide with the completion of the company's financial restructuring. The print campaign launched throughout the US, Europe and Latin America. The advertisements will run in most major newspapers in an effort to raise awareness about the company's completed restructuring. Global Crossing's global IP-based network is showcased in the ads via a glowing beam of light. The tag line of the campaign is "One planet. One network." The ads were created by The Martin Agency.

Discount travel site Hotwire.com is back with fresh TV spots, which launched Jan. 26. The ads again target consumers looking for cheap deals on travel with candid humor that pokes fun at activities people might do in a hotel room such as jumping on the bed or asking for a wake-up call. The two 15-second spots, "Wake Up" and "Bed Jumping," were created by DeVito/Verdi and will air nationally on cable.

In website launches this week:

AGENCY.COM has redesigned Sovereign Bank'sWebsite. The Website aims to enhance the customer's online experience by delivering a variety of new features including improved access to information about Sovereign's banking, borrowing, investment, and insurance products and services; and "Quick Links" to a complete line of services from the home page for individuals, businesses and institutions.

Penton Media's Supply Chain Group has launched Logistics Today, the online logistics daily. The Website is an interactive extension of the group's print magazine, Logistics Today.LogisticsToday.com is a source for logistics news and information. The website provides easy, single-source access to a wide range of information resources that help logistics professionals do their jobs. Daily updates provide users with the latest industry news in addition to archived news, analysis, case studies, technology, and how-to articles. Reuter & Associates designed the website.