R.J. Reynolds Tobacco says it will not advertise its brands in newspapers or consumer magazines next year. The company has been criticized for both its colorful and feminine Camel No. 9 ads, which appeared in fashion magazines and were seen as cynically aimed at young women, and also for a recent ad in Rolling Stone. Company spokeswoman Jan Smith says the decision was made sometime before October and was unrelated to the Rolling Stone controversy. She calls the move "an effort by the company to enhance and sharpen the effectiveness and efficiency of its marketing programs." She …

Anonymous as recently as the beginning of last season, Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo is poised to become a marketing all-star. Fans nationwide love Romo; his top-selling No. 9 jersey is proof of that. This season, he's been featured in a "This Is SportsCenter" spot for ESPN and a Diet Pepsi Max commercial, as well as print ads for AT&T. Romo's amiable personality is the key to his appeal, says Bill Glenn, vp of strategic insights and analytics at The Marketing Arm in Dallas. "He smiles when he's on the field," he says. "He has taken what is …

On a never-ending quest to appeal to the young and young-minded, companies from Goodyear to Volvo are using tattoos in advertising and promotion. Once seen as a silent cry of rebellion, tattoos now possess a status so firmly mainstream that the Web site Leaseyourbody.com connects advertisers with those who want to be paid for sporting tattoo advertisements. For three years, Goodyear's Dunlop tire unit has offered a set of free tires to anyone who will get the company's flying-D logo tattooed somewhere on their body, and 98 people have taken up the offer. Volvo recently created a fictional …

Seth Godin is the top marketing guru to an elite group of marketing executives, followed by Apple's Steve Jobs. The Marketing Executives Networking Group anointed Godin in a survey responded to by more than 600 of the group's 1,657 members. The study queried members about a host of other topics, including key demographic groups (baby boomers) and best business books ("Good to Great" by Jim Collins). The top buzzwords for the group are traditional concepts, such as segmentation, brand loyalty and competitive intelligence, followed closely by new-school media tactics, including search-engine optimization, data mining and personalization. Green marketing …

"Social-shopping" sites such as Kaboodle, ShopStyle.com and ThisNext that let shoppers talk about what they're interested in buying and voice opinions on others choices are becoming popular as advertising vehicles for major marketers, such as Nike and American Express. But there are potential risks--such as transparency--for both the advertisers and the sites, which are still new and have yet to be fully tested. On Kaboodle, for example, in-house editors assemble a list of items that they say are big sellers on the Web. They dub the list "hot picks." But advertisers can pay to have their products displayed on …

Sonic Drive-In has started selling mac and cheese as a snack. Kraft has introduced an organic version. Cheesecake Factory sells it as an appetizer. And at two trendy New York eateries, it's the only entree. It's that old-time favorite of people seeking the sensory comfort of the tastes and smells of their youth: macaroni and cheese. Mac & cheese has pluses--it's calcium-rich and has protein aplenty--but you can't make it low in calories, according to nutritionist Robin Robyn Flipse. "It's the ultimate comfort food," says Darra Goldstein, editor in chief of Gastronomica, a food journal. "There's a …

The Federal Trade Commission is accelerating a review of its guidelines governing how companies market carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates that claim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in one place to offset emissions elsewhere. The agency was scheduled to review the guidelines in 2009, but will now conduct its first public hearing on Jan. 8. "A lot of companies are making green marketing claims," says FTC spokeswoman Jackie Dizdul. "The last time our guidelines were updated was in 1998, and obviously a lot of things have changed." An enormous variety of companies now make such claims. …