Nascar will continue to race its Nascar Nextel Cup Series at least through 2006, but otherwise the Sprint name will dominate once the $35 billion merger between telecommunications companies Sprint and Nextel Communications obtains government approval. Mark Schweitzer, designated chief marketing officer of the combined company, said the marketer officially will be called Sprint Nextel, but Sprint will be its name in the marketplace. Advertising, using the Sprint name, will include an additional line: "Together with Nextel."

Lowe's has cut to four finalists in the review for its $315 million ad account, sources said. The incumbent, McCann Erickson in New York, will automatically advance. That shop will compete against three other New York agencies: Omnicom Group's BBDO and TBWAChiatDay, and McCann's Interpublic Group sibling Deutsch, sources said.

Jean-Marie Dru, president-CEO of TBWA Worldwide, is believed to be finalizing negotiations to join Havas as CEO and leave the Omnicom Group-owned agency network, according to executives close to the situation.

Each year at the National Magazine Awards, a panel of judges decides which of the nation's 17,500 periodicals are the best. But who cares what some publishing-industry poohbahs think? Magazines speak to each of us differently, and those lauded for slick editing and fancy photography aren't always the ones that capture our hearts. The New Yorker is the best magazine? Tell that to the readers of Armchair General. Thus, the Tempo staff, for the third straight year, has compiled its own list of best magazines -- our personal favorites, drawn from the titles that clutter our cubicles, litter our nightstands …

Underdog is getting a lot of work these days. The classic crime-fighting beagle can be seen swooping into a Visa check card advertisement and on the hood of a Nascar racecar. Soon he will be reading lines for a Disney movie. Classic Media, which owns the rights to the Underdog character, is not alone in seeking to profit from marketers who are rushing into properties that were once hot with baby boomers.

Advertising executives are struggling to prove the value of their services amid a fight with their clients' penny-pinching financial executives, who they accuse of not understanding the creative work they do. "The search for a workable return on investment formula has instituted a worrying degree of paralysis," said Michael Lee, president of the International Advertising Association. "Everyone is being sensibly hesitant, but what we need is progress, not paralysis."

Top NBC executive Jeff Zucker conceded Wednesday that the $900 million hit the network took in advertising sales because of its prime-time slump was bigger than expected, but "there's no panic." The company's overall strength will see it through the lean times, Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television group, said in an interview.

For several years now, magazines have promoted measures of "engagement" as evidence of real value to their readers. And it's no surprise magazines involve readers. After all, they select titles by content and pay money to read them. However demonstrating the value of reader involvement to the advertiser has been another matter.

Alain de Pouzilhac has resigned as chairman and CEO of French advertising company Havas, according to the company. His responsibilities will be handled by Richard Colker, an independent director and chairman of Havas' audit committee, backed by a team of three other Havas directors, according to a company statement. These include Ed Eskandarian, Fernando Rodes and Jacques Seguela.

The big question about Snapple's messy effort to create the world's largest ice pop in New York's Union Square yesterday is whether it was ultimately a success or failure. The primary goal of breaking the existing Guinness World Record for such a feat was clearly missed when parts of the unfinished 20-ton structure turned into an avalanche of slush in the day's 80-degree temperatures. On the other hand, the monumental mess of sticky kiwi strawberry oozing across sidewalks and street surfaces in one of the city's most heavily traveled neighborhoods was not without its buzz-generating benefits.