When the 77th annual Academy Awards were presented last night, there was no category for best product placement in a film. But a monthlong series that begins on Friday on the Turner Classic Movies cable television network suggests there perhaps ought to be for the 78th.

They've chased each other around the world, had their faces plastered on the sides of buses and sniped at each other through surrogates, all in service of their respective evening news broadcasts. One even had his name displayed on a banner that was towed by a small plane, beach-resort style, over the rooftops of Manhattan last week to promote a prime-time documentary about U.F.O.'s. Now, like combatants in an initial round of presidential primaries, Brian Williams, who replaced Tom Brokaw as anchor of "NBC Nightly News" on Dec. 2, and Peter Jennings, the veteran anchor of "World News Tonight" on …

PepsiCo has introduced voluntary restrictions on its advertising to children, in response to increasing obesity in the US and western Europe, the Financial Times reported. In its online edition the newspaper said the company, which makes Pepsi-Cola and Doritos chips, has also cut the portion sizes of its products sold in US schools.

Although theAcademy Awards ad inventory sold out early at record-breaking prices, marketers' creative materials were tightly policed for potentially controversial content before last evening's Oscars broadcast.

Now they tell us. Some of Dan Rather's best-known CBS colleagues say they don't watch the embattled anchor's "CBS Nightly News." "He's not as easy to watch as [Peter] Jennings or [Tom] Brokaw," said "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace in this week's The New Yorker magazine.

As sponsors prepare for the 77th annual Academy Awards, to be broadcast on Sunday by ABC, they wonder whether these facts may add up to fewer viewers than usual:The show has an untested first-time host, the comedian Chris Rock. The five nominees for best picture combined have sold far fewer tickets than the 2003 winner, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Hooray for Hollywood? It may be more like oh, no for Madison Avenue.

Capital One has launched an agency review to consolidate its online advertising. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed that agencies have been invited to pitch for the consolidated online media-buying and -planning efforts.

The Oscars are where the beautiful people walk the red carpet on the most glamorous night on TV. But almost unbelievably, beauty advertisers have been missing in action from the big event for five years. Now, L'Oreal will be taking aim at female consumers with seven TV commercials during ABC's Sunday telecast of the 77th Annual Academy Awards. L'Oreal's ads will star Andie MacDowell, Natalie Imbruglia, Heather Locklear, Milla Jovovich and Kyan Douglas from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Featured in all the ads will be the world's biggest beauty company's theme: "Because I'm Worth It."

Clear Channel Communications Inc. on Friday reported a loss of $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004, all of it due to an accounting change to comply with federal regulations. Excluding the charge, Clear Channel's earnings were $214.3 million, or 37 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2004, up 14.5 percent from the $187.2 million, or 30 cents per share, earned in the same quarter in 2003.

For those who have been waiting for Hanes to revive "Just wait'll we get our Hanes on you," the wait is over - kinda sorta. In a campaign scheduled to begin on Monday, which is being billed as the largest in years for the Hanes apparel brand, the "Just wait'll" theme, so successful in the 1990's, returns with a bit of tailoring as "Look who we've got our Hanes on now."