Crown Imports is rolling out its first U.S. TV campaign for Pacifico, an imported beer from Mexico. "Mexico via Pacifico" ads were shot with Super-8 cameras for a home-movie effect. They show the Baja experience by following surfers on an off-the-beaten-path excursion. In one, roosters wake travelers on the beach who surf, play cards and watch the sunset, while a title card urges viewers to "set their rooster to Pacifico standard time." The effort is set for a two-year run with outdoor ads and print in titles including Backpacker, Blender, Esquire and Men's Health. The campaign …

After a slow start, Super Bowl ad time is close to selling out, according to CBS. The network had lined up 25 advertisers as of Wednesday, says JoAnn Ross, CBS' ad sales chief. And the net has managed to sign on three rookies, including Garmin, which makes GPS navigation devices; Salesgenie.com, a provider of business leads; and King Pharmaceutical, which sells blood pressure drug Altace. The company won't directly sell the drug in its spot, but will warn about the dangers of high-blood pressure. Other advertisers on board include Emerald Nuts, Careerbuilder, FedEx, GoDaddy.com and at least three …

At the start of each year, magazines are usually looking for ad-rate increases, while media buyers resist. And while that is the case in 2007, the advantage is with the buyers that are refusing most requests for more money. One big reason is the Internet. Magazines "aren't going to get them," says one buyer. "They talk about postal rates going up and the increase in the cost of paper, but they say that every year." There may be some exceptions, the buyer continues, a few hot titles like Rachael Ray. But "there really isn't an Oprah or a …

Coca-Cola will advertise during the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly a decade with two first-half slots for 60- and 30-second Coke Classic spots. One of the ads set to air is the animated "Videogame," insiders say, the one that debuted in theaters late last year and on broadcast TV last week during the premiere of "American Idol." Coke last advertised on the Super Bowl in 1998. More recently, it just bought time immediately prior to the game, leaving rival Pepsi to dominate the rest. But this time around, the two soft-drink giants will …

DirecTV has signed a multiyear deal to exclusively carry the NCAA "March Madness" out-of-market men's college-basketball tournament as part of a broader deal with CBS that includes higher distribution of the Tiffany Network's college-sports cable channel CSTV. The satellite service will move CSTV to its Total Choice Plus tier from its sports tier, boosting its DirecTV reach to 8 million subscribers from 2 million. Overall, CSTV has about 20 million subscribers. DirecTV--which has offered an NCAA March Madness out-of-market package since 1999--will provide up to 37 games, as well as interactive features, for $69. CSTV will …

In the wake of market share losses, Miller Brewing has canned the "Man Law" ad campaign that rolled out last spring with much hoopla. The ads featured celebrities that supposedly personified masculinity, including Burt Reynolds, football star Jerome Bettis and wrestler Triple H. They would meet to settle questions about manly behavior, such as if it is OK to put fruit in beer. The spots drew hundreds of thousands of entries to an online "Manlawpedia," but did nothing to bump up sales. Indeed, Miller Lite lost ground to rivals with sales down in low-single digits last year. …

While newspapers have long tried to court the 18-24 non-reader, using things like toss-away tabloids packed with celebrities, their attempts have generally foundered. But there's a new trend afoot at newspapers across America, a new focus of publishers' attention: going after a group of readers they already, have but doing a better job of it: American moms. They make most of the buying decisions in their households and the bulk of everyday purchases that are key to retailers. For instance, the Examiner chain, with free dailies in San Francisco, Baltimore and Washington, has made a point of targeting …

The head of CBS News and Sports says that "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" may have started off "a little soft," he is happy with where it stands today and plans no big changes. "There was talk in the beginning about the nature of the show and it being a little soft, and we may have started off a little soft," says Seam McManus. "But I think, if you look at the show now, the mix is where it should be, and it is as hard as any other newscast at 6:30." McManus adds that gender may play …

Marketers heard of both horrors to come -- and reassuring words from regulators -- at the Association of National Advertisers' Advertising Law Conference. While there were warnings of great peril to the business from the new Democratic Congress, there were also soothing phrases from the government's top regulators. There are "more serious threats over a wider range of issues and these threats are more pronounced," says Dan Jaffe, the ANA's executive vice president of government relations, i.e. possible new laws about drug ads, food marketing and consumer privacy. But Federal Trade Commission chairman Deborah Platt Majoras and …

An anti-AIDS group is suing pharmaceutical giant Pfizer over ads it claims encourage the use of Viagra as a party drug and that such recreational use can spread HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. In the suit, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation calls ads for the impotence drug false and misleading, echoing allegations it made in an ad campaign last month. The group also alleges Viagra's marketing practices foster an increase in the spread of STDs, as studies have found the drug is used together with crystal meth. While meth can heighten sexual desire, it also can impair …