Fosters, the Australian beer,is bringing new meaning to the term action figures. The brewer has a new promotion that involves a talking figurine of cricket legend David Boon equipped with 32 phrases. Many are connected to the beer marketer's sponsorship of the 2006 cricket season in Australia. The figurines, designed to stand on their own or sit atop a can of beer, were given away when a consumer purchased two cases of Foster's. The can-topping talker is programmed to comment on cricket action, spurred on by encoded signals embedded in the broadcast. Phrases uttered by the toy include "Show us …

A handful of leading consumer-product marketers has decided to join "Entourage." Diet Pepsi, Gap, Cingular Wireless and Hyundai Motor America are among the advertisers connecting their brands to the HBO series about the adventures of a young movie star in Hollywood and his group of pals. "Entourage," with its ensemble cast and its plots centered on four men about town, reminds many viewers of "Sex and the City." The similarities have attracted marketers seeking to appeal to younger consumers. "In Generation Y, it's all about belonging," says Susan Cocco, svp and executive marketing director at Colangelo Synergy Marketing, which works …

KFC is turning to moms to help the company improve its marketing methods. The fast-food chain, owned by Yum! Brands, is creating a new entity it has dubbed the "KFC Moms Matter! Advisory Board," which the company says is designed to put KFC more in touch with family needs. The group will work online and offline and will offer opinions and advice on topics ranging from new product ideas to trendspotting. An online community for moms is scheduled to go live next year, while the group will meet offline twice a year, hold quarterly conference calls and host monthly dinner …

Marketers have a new venue to place video ads, one that attracts millions of viewers daily:YouTube. The online video-sharing company says it will offer video brand advertising on its site to complement the minimalist text and small graphical online banner ads, promotions and sponsorships. In addition to video ads, YouTube is offering advertisers two other advertising options. One is called Brand Channels, in which advertisers will be allowed to customize the channels and create subscriptions so viewers are alerted whenever a new video is added. Another option is the Participatory Video Ad, in which a user-initiated video advertisement allows consumers …

A parent's watchdog group has given its seal of approval to Ford Motor Co. and Coca-Cola, but General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler and Nissan are among the brands in the dog house. The group, the Parents Television Council, issued its fifth-annual list of the best and worst of prime-time TV advertisers this week, based on how often advertisers aired spots in "wholesome, family-oriented" shows rather than on programs containing "sexually graphic, violent or profane material." All the analyzed ad placements appeared on prime-time broadcast TV during the last season. "There is good news and bad news," says PTC President Brent …

Beer marketer Anheuser-Busch is getting into the film and TV production business, according to Ad Age. A-B is creating an in-house division to create humorous shorts and sitcom-type programs to be broadcast over the Internet and to cell phones. There's even a possibility the unit could eventually develop full-length films. The unit will be led by Jim Schumacher, the company's top creative executive, who has been moved out of the ad department and into the new entertainment production group. "The fact that Schu is leading this means they're serious about it," said one person familiar with his new assignment. The …

Consumer product behemoth Unilever is incorporating a substantial amount of nontraditional marketing methods in the largest U.S. launch of a hair-care product. To introduce Sunsilk, the company is earmarking about $30 million, or 15 percent of the total $200 million budget, for nontraditional media. The platforms include mall displays that use a new audio technology to grab attention; a profile and ads on MySpace.com; cinema ads in nationwide theaters; and eye-catching 3-D displays in close to 900 bars in key target markets, such as Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Like the broader campaign, which broke in July, the far-reaching nontraditional …

Food marketer Sara Lee Corp. doesn't want consumers to be shy about eating. That's the focus of a new marketing effort that promotes all the food products that fall under its famous brand name. The effort goes beyond advertising the well-known pound cakes and cheesecakes and includes the company's deli meats, breads and condiments. The first ad shows people eating super-sized portions--bagels loaded with cream cheese, for instance, and thick breads stuffed with mounds of meats and vegetables--instead of thin servings that have become the norm. "We're not out trying to design a skinny-portion representation," says Kim Feil, chief marketing …

Folgers coffee, marketed by Procter & Gamble, wants to move up in the world. In an effort to catch up with the premium coffee market, Folgers will try to improve its meat-and-potatoes image with a new line of upscale, gourmet flavors that are wrapped in shiny bags labeled in fancy typefaces. Flavors include espresso roast and caramel drizzle, and the line will be backed by a $20 million ad campaign beginning in September. Says Tami Yamashita, the associate marketing director for Folgers: "We felt it was important to cater to the needs of the consumer." Instead of going after coffee …

Forget about new and emerging media like podcasts, RSS feeds, VOD, cell phones and other high-tech forms of digital communications. New research shows that a surprisingly large number of consumers--particularly adults with steady incomes--keep informed and entertained the old-fashioned way: they read and watch TV. According to JupiterResearch, just 7 percent of Americans write blogs, while 22 percent read them. Meanwhile, a separate study from WorkPlace Print Media says that 88 percent of Americans have no idea what RSS is. These formats were supposed to change the way consumers hold conversations about brands, but recent data from word-of-mouth specialists Keller …