Adidas America scored a major coup this week with the signing of football star Reggie Bush to a multiyear deal as a celebrity endorser. Bush is a Heisman Trophy winner and was the star running back for the University of Southern California. He is expected to be chosen as the No. 1 draft pick in the upcoming National Football League draft. Under terms of the deal, Bush will appear in several marketing and advertising initiatives and "will play a role in the development of Adidas football and training-specific apparel and footwear," the company said. A Reggie Bush signature shoe line …

A disgruntled shareholder who objected to Kraft Foods' sponsorship of the 2006 Gay Games VII and asked for a proxy statement against the company's involvement was overwhelmingly rejected by Kraft and its investors. Kraft stockholder Dr. Marcella Meyer said Kraft should "disassociate itself" from the Gay Games and any other activities supporting homosexual activities and lifestyle because studies have linked such activity to sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. She claimed that Kraft's support of the games could make it legally liable in the event that a young attendee decides to "experiment with homosexual encounters and later develops a serious, even …

Kao Brands has forged a multifaceted package with the Walt Disney Co. that could serve as the poster child for the kind of experiential marketing deal companies are seeking in their ongoing efforts to forge closer ties with consumers outside the realms of traditional advertising. The deal is designed to promote the introduction of the company’s Luminous Color Glaze line, a hair coloring product previously sold only in salons.  At the center of the deal is the Luminous Color Glaze Fan Zone, which will be located near the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles this Friday when the 33rd annual …

Everyone knows about the benefits and potential pitfalls of celebrity endorsers, but there's a group of marketers who are trying to snare a celebrity who is truly in his own league: Pope Benedict XVI. Since his election last year, the pope has been seen and photographed wearing a variety of products that were donated to the Holy See by marketers hoping he might use their products publicly. Some of them got lucky. The list includes sunglasses by Serengeti, walking shoes by Geox, a specially engraved white Apple iPod, and a pair of stylish red loafers that may or may not …

Travelers to New York are about to find HSBC, one of the world's largest banks, inescapable. The bank has just inked a new five-year, $6 million deal with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to be the exclusive sponsor (other than airlines) on the 108 jet bridges that link planes to the terminals at Kennedy International Airport. Talks are underway for similar deals covering LaGuardia Airport and Newark International Airport as well. "We've been looking for different sources of revenue," said Charles A. Gargano, vice chairman of the Port Authority, which operates the airports. "Advertising was one …

Ford Motor Co. is taking steps to reinvigorate its marketing efforts with a new slogan and a new ad campaign starring a new celebrity endorser, Kelly Clarkson of "American Idol" fame. The move comes at a time when the automaker continues to suffer market share declines and a falling stock value. The new slogan, "Bold Moves," replaces "Built for the Road Ahead," which is being dropped after a little more than a year. Both the new slogan and the affiliation with Clarkson drew praise from dealers and analysts. Clarkson has recorded several hits since exploding on the scene with "Idol" …

Bass Pale Ale plans to celebrate its Britishness in a new promotional campaign tied to a music tour that features a group of hot young British bands that are little known in the U.S. but are stars elsewhere. The groups are being touted as a new wave of British invasion bands that the U.K. brewer hopes will catch on with youthful ale drinkers in the U.S. Dubbed the BritBus Tour, the lineup of bands includes The Magic Numbers, Hard-Fi, James Blunt and Paul Oakenfold. The 10-city tour starts April 30 in Los Angeles and concludes May 25 in New York …

Consumers who think they've been seeing more ads for mutual funds companies touting their performance in a robust stock market aren't wrong. The upturn in the market over the past year has led a handful of fund companies to increase advertising and marketing spending on campaigns that trumpet their performance on Wall Street. The trend has been going on since last year, when fund companies spent close to $300 million in advertising, up 6 percent from 2004 and 52 percent from 2003, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Even though spending is small compared to the amounts spent by leading national advertisers …

Everyone in marketing knows that advertisers are struggling to stand out in a crowded field of commercial messages. One way to get noticed that several marketers seem to be taking advantage of is to create ads that viewers find disgusting. Take a recent effort from Adams Respiratory Therapeutics for its Mucinex medicine in which a ball of mucus makes its home in a person's lungs. Then there's a spot for Procter & Gamble's Pepto-Bismol that features a jingle about heartburn and diarrhea. The general consensus appears to be that even though these ads are kind of gross, they apparently work. …

Companies that launch elaborate, multimedia marketing campaigns that do not include a search component run the risk of missing a potentially valuable opportunity to establish long-term relationships with their target audience. The reason is simple--research shows that consumers head straight to the Internet to research products they learn about from TV and print ads and to decide what products they should buy. Laptops share the couch as consumers watch TV, according to a SIMM study that showed 66.2 percent of consumers regularly use TV and the Internet simultaneously. But even though search engine research has become a daily, routine part …