Marriott International is pledging $2 million to protect 1.4 million acres of endangered rain forest in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, will reduce fuel and water consumption at its 3,000 hotels, and will furnish its rooms with Bic pens made from pre-consumer recycled plastic. Marriott is also updating design guidelines for its hotels to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED standards, and is pressuring its suppliers to provide greener products. And next month it plans to introduce a green meetings concept that will feature recycled paper and responsible packaged water. The firm's new greening tactics--detailed in Washington, D.C. yesterday …

Nike has unveiled its Olympics 2008 line, its largest effort for the games ever. It has created products in every sport at the games, ranging from BMX racing to equestrian jumping. Among the innovations are Nike's lightest track shoe and basketball shoe ever, which is based on a webbing of ultra-resistent fibers that act as a basket to attach the sole and hold in the foot. Nike is not an official sponsor of the games. Its rival Adidas is. Nike's position has traditionally been not to act as a sponsor of the event, but to be an outfitter for its …

In a departure from the sporty outfits that the team has worn in recent years, American Olympic athletes will be dressed in preppy Polo outfits during opening and closing ceremonies and in the Olympic Village during the 2008 summer games in Beijing. David Lauren, senior vice president of advertising, marketing and corporate communications at Polo Ralph Lauren, says he is hoping the athletes' new look will help boost America's image internationally. An ad campaign, touting the brand as the "official outfitter of the U.S. Olympic team" will be unveiled this summer. The Olympics deal is expected to translate into millions …

Miller plans to test two different campaign ideas--both from agency of record Y&R, Chicago--to replace last year's failed "Experience is Golden" effort for its Miller Genuine Draft. Since 1991, the long-declining brand has burned through four agencies and shipments have dropped about 41% to roughly half its early-'90s peak. The first idea being tested plays upon the word "genuine" in the brand's name by setting the beer in contrast to phoniness, according to Deb Boyda, the Milwaukee-based brewer's vice president-content communications. The second effort echoes the "Out of the old, into the cold" campaign that launched MGD to early success …

An integrated marketing campaign for Kraft's Bagel-fuls--frozen bagel sticks filled with Philadelphia cream cheese--will begin April 9 when Joy Behar, co-host of ABC's "The View," doles them out in Times Square. National TV ads break at the end of April. Kraft then will take Bagel-fuls on a 20-plus city sampling tour this summer, supported by radio promotions. It is also reaching out to blogs and female-oriented online communities. In 2003, Kraft tried a refrigerated product that included a single-serve bagel, a 1-oz. tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and a plastic knife. But the product did not deliver on the "to …

Sears has quietly added more than 250,000 music offerings, movies and video games to Sears.com in the past few months. It has opened an online software boutique for downloading programs for taxes, graphics, finances and computer security. And later this spring, it plans to sell books online for the first time. The store that pioneered America's mail-order business more than a century ago is turning its Web site into a shopping gateway that could soon rival its legendary Big Book. The expansion comes as the retailer, struggling in its bricks and mortar business, took the significant step …

Almost half the $15 million to $25 million budgeted for a campaign introducing the BMW 1-Series--a compact in coupe and convertible versions targeted to a younger, somewhat less well-heeled driver--is being devoted to online media. The campaign seeks to reassure potential buyers that the model is indeed a "pure BMW" despite being smaller and less expensive. The online elements of the campaign include letting members of Facebook design virtual cars and send them to Facebook friends; buying dominant positions--known as takeovers--on the home pages of msn.com and yahoo.com; posting video clips on YouTube; and developing a microsite (bmwusa.com/new1). As …