I gave a speech to the 2nd Annual World Obesity and Weight Loss Congress in Washington, DC, discussing the many ways in which the food industry is responding to the obesity problem in the United States. I have provided an excerpted version below. Childhood obesity is an extremely complex problem and all of us - marketers, parents, government, and educators - all have an important role to play to address it. The advertising community is committed to being part of the solution. Here are five critical steps the industry has taken to tackle the issue head-on:

Accounting woes nearly behind it, the ailing ad giant must now weigh a breakup.

Banking on the almost 19 million HDTV sets currently in U.S. homes, MTV Networks Music Group will launch a high-definition channel called MHD in January. The Viacom channel, unlike other recent high-definition TV launches, including Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, will be programmed independently rather than as a simulcast of a linear network. MTV Networks' affiliate sales team is currently negotiating carriage of the channel.

The Penthouse Media Group has locked down $48 million in private financing to pay for an expansion into TV and wireless delivery, potentially reviving the formerly rough-and-tumble competition for soft-core porn profits. Penthouse said it will use the new money to build multiple high-definition on-demand and subscription TV properties in a direct challenge to Playboy Enterprises, which operates Playboy TV and the Spice channels in the U.S. and abroad.

The Friday, Sept. 9 Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telecast, which was simulcast by numerous broadcast and cable networks, raised approximately $30 million for the American Red Cross and Salvation Army's Hurricane Katrina relief fund. But the number does not reflect a final total, particularly from funds coming from international countries.

Gillette unveiled Fusion (manual) and Fusion Power (battery operated), a wet-shaving system with a lot more bells and whistles than the company's Mach3Turbo and M3Power, currently the top-selling shavers. It also announced a line of shaving creams and gels to go with the new razors. Gillette's agency - BBDO Worldwide, a unit of the Omnicom Group - has access to plenty of product images and attributes to whet the jaded shaver's appetite. Both Fusion models have five blades instead of Mach3's three, and they are spaced 30 percent closer than are Mach3 blades - changes that the company says provide …

Jim Stengel, Global Marketing Officer at Procter & Gamble, will be the headline speaker at this year's ANA Annual conference: Masters of Marketing. Mr. Stengel's presentation titled, Leadership for Building Successful Brands, will focus on P&G's leadership in energizing their mature brands and creating new ones that resonate with today's consumers. I recently spoke with Jim and we discussed his participation at the upcoming conference.

The American Society of Magazine Editors has delivered a mild rap on the knuckles to The New Yorker for violating society guidelines when it published an issue sponsored by just one advertiser, Target Stores. Those guidelines call for any magazine issue that is sponsored by a sole advertiser to include a note explaining that the advertiser did not influence the editorial content. The Aug. 22 issue of The New Yorker, which included 18 pages of Target ads, did not include such a note.

Andrew House has been named to the new post of global chief marketing officer at Sony Corp. He foresees no changes in Sony's marketing partnerships, which include Omnicom Group's TBWAChiatDay, Havas-owned McKinney + Silver and Publicis Groupe's Fallon.

Two rivals in magazine publishing are working together on an effort that helped land them a multimillion-dollar contract from a major marketer. The competitors are Hachette Filipacchi Media USA, part of the Hachette Filipacchi Médias division of Lagardère, and the Hearst Magazines division of the Hearst Corporation. Two magazines published by Hachette Filipacchi and three by Hearst - all read primarily by men - are joining forces to carry identical advertising sections in their October issues, sponsored by the 2006 Charger sold by the Dodge division of the Chrysler Group, owned by DaimlerChrysler.