At least one marketer is discovering a relatively new and potentially highly efficient way to reach young men, an elusive but highly sought market--extreme sports. Microsoft's Xbox 360 videogaming system, which goes on sale next month, has signed on as the official sponsor of the Collegiate Nationals, a competition in which colleges and universities will compete in snowboarding, kayaking, wakeboarding and beach volleyball events. The tournament will be televised by college sports cable channel CSTV next April. CSTV, which recently agreed to be acquired by CBS, is the latest outlet to cover extreme sports, a trend that started with ESPN's …

As most marketers know, slogans as promotional tools can be risky--a truism that holds especially for cities trying to hype themselves as a tourist destination. Sometimes slogans can work magic, like the famous "I Love New York" campaign that featured the image of a red heart in place of the word "love." Then there was "Virginia is For Lovers"--another winner. But the latest effort for the city of Atlanta, introduced last week, seems to be falling a bit flat. The slogan, "Every Day Is an Opening Day," is intended to convey the growth Atlanta has enjoyed over the last decade. …

College students have long been the holy grail of target groups for beer and spirits marketers because that's the age when brand loyalties for those kinds of products are formed. They also have a lot of money to spend. But now alcohol marketers' efforts to reach this crowd are coming under more scrutiny than ever from watchdog groups, lawyers, politicians and parents. The result is that momentum is building to ban alcohol ads from college sports broadcasts, arenas and even whole campuses. In fact, some limits already exist. For example, for tournaments and championships, the National Collegiate Athletic Association limits …

Marketers should never underestimate the power of pets. CMO magazine Editorial Director Lew McCreary reminds us that marketing history is filled with examples of animals used to sell products, and very successfully. "The relationships of people with their pets are both deep and uncomplicated," McCreary writes in this amusing essay. "Our dogs and cat--and, I suppose, cockatiels, rabbits and guinea pig--are halcyon objects of affection, and in this way they are suited to become iconic shills of considerable value." Examples abound and include the RCA dog, Nipper, listening attentively to "his master's voice" on an old Victrola. "In Nipper's rapt …

The beer industry wants to clean up its act. Or, failing that, it at least wants to give consumers offended by sophomoric advertising a place to vent. The Beer Institute, a trade organization, announced it plans to create a new panel to hear consumer complaints about beer ads. Core issues concern whether beer advertising violates decency standards or purposely appeal to underage consumers. Institute President Jeff Becker said the organization counts about 100 brewers as member, including major national advertisers such as Anheuser Busch, Miller and Coors. "What we want to provide is an opportunity for consumers who have complained …

Volkswagen's U.S. marketers took a gamble on their upscale brand, the VW Phaeton. Yesterday they accepted the fact that they'd lost. The car, launched two years ago with a minimum striker price of $64,600, is being discontinued in America. VW was betting that affluent, status-conscious car buyers would buy the Phaeton, despite the fact that it came from a company not usually associated with high-end products. The car, priced comparably with BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, received favorable reviews but did not sell well. VW sold 686 of the cars through October, down 52.1 percent versus the period last year. The …

Reebok has discovered the value of online marketing. Following last year's successful tie-in with a Mexican soccer team, Chivas, the shoe marketer is now launching a Web site--its first ever targeted to the young Hispanic market. The deal with Chivas was Mexico-based and backed by an ad campaign there. It focused on a product line that included soccer jerseys. But Reebok soon saw the jerseys gaining popularity among young Latinos in the U.S. When that happened, "We said, 'Let's bring the products to the U.S. and do a campaign,'" said Jorge Dionne, Reebok's marketing director for Latin America. Now the …

Tobacco marketers will take yet another hit this week when a new ad attacking smoking in movies appears in The New York Times, Roll Call and The Hill. The effort is being bankrolled by the American Legacy Foundation and several other public health and anti-smoking advocates who are trying to get all movies that show people smoking on screen to be rated R, which would restrict attendance to people over the age of 17. The ad is the result of a two-year study by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H., which found that one-third of U.S adolescents between 10 and …

The Bud Light vs. Miller Lite ad wars are heating up again. This time, Anheuser-Busch has asked the TV networks to stop airing a new ad campaign for Miller Lite that claims A-B's Bud Light brand has changed and is not as tasty as its rival. "We addressed this directly in a way that was most appropriate," said A-B's Douglas J. Muhleman, group vice president, brewing operations. "We saw negative advertising that included our product, and we were in the best position to explain to the networks that these claims are not true. It is up to the networks to …

The man who put Chipotle Mexican Grill on the map through quirky advertising and other creative strategies has resigned. The McDonald's-owned company announced the departure of marketing director Dan Fogarty in a memo from CEO Steve Ells. In his announcement, Ells said Fogarty "laid the foundation for our marketing program by defining our public look, giving voice to our advertising, understanding the influence great music can have, and adding his own unique and thoughtful touches to our emerging brand. He was instrumental in developing the Chipotle culture." However, no specific reasons were given for Fogarty's departure. Fogarty's contributions included a …