The New York Times, December 23, 2004
Not long after the chief executive at Coca-Cola, E. Neville Isdell, began saying that the company needed to improve its marketing, a group of experienced hands in the ad industry decided they might be able to help. Soon a collective of creative types from many industries delivered their response, including a new campaign
The New York Times, December 23, 2004
AstraZeneca's recent full-page newspaper advertisements defending the safety of its cholesterol-lowering pill, Crestor, are "false and misleading," in part because serious concerns remain about the safety of the drug, federal drug regulators said Wednesday.
Reuters, December 22, 2004
Brewer Heineken USA on Wednesday said it had created an independent panel to review complaints about its advertising amid rising scrutiny over the effects of alcohol marketing.
Reuters, December 23, 2004
Plans to air a television game show in which an adopted woman picks out her father from a panel of impostors have thousands of people deluging Fox TV with letters and e-mails to get the show shelved. The "Who's Your Daddy?" show, in which a young woman given up for adoption as a child gets a $100,000 prize for picking out her biological father from a line-up, is the latest in America's obsession with reality TV programming.
Reuters, December 21, 2004
French advertiser Havas has denied a report that it and larger U.S. rival Interpublic Group have agreed upon a media-buying joint venture, but said it is still open to alliances in the sector. Havas issued a statement after French newspaper Les Echos reported on Tuesday that the company could announce a deal with Interpublic "at best before the end of the year and at worst before end January".
The New York Times, December 22, 2004
The Washington Post Company said yesterday that it had purchased Slate, an online magazine owned by Microsoft. The sale completes Slate's transformation from an experiment in the new media in 1996 to a respected brand name in journalism. Terms of the sale were not announced, but industry specialists estimated that the deal was worth between $15 million and $20 million.
The New York Times, December 22, 2004
Cablevision Systems, the largest cable television provider in the New York area, suspended plans to spin off its media group, Rainbow Media Enterprises, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. The company, which had twice delayed the spinoff, said it would instead "pursue strategic alternatives" for the Rainbow group, which includes the Voom satellite television service and several cable television networks.
Revolution, December 22, 2004
Aegis has acquired US internet search marketing agency iProspect.com in a deal that could net the founders of the firm $50m (£26m).
Sky News, December 22, 2004
A poster advertising a morning after pill has been pulled after a flood of complaints. Critics said the poster, featuring the words "immaculate contraception" - a play on words of the Roman Catholic belief of "immaculate conception", was an insult to the religion.
The New York Times, December 21, 2004
Media companies are feeling their own pain from the COX-2 debacle. Now that Pfizer has suspended its multimillion-dollar consumer advertising program for its COX-2 inhibitor painkiller, Celebrex, and Merck has taken its similar - and similarly advertised - drug, Vioxx, off the market, the prescription drug ad market is not looking nearly as healthy as it seemed earlier this year.