As it approaches 50, AARP has rolled out a new TV ad to celebrate aging to the tune of a Buzzcocks' classic punk song "Everybody's Happy Nowadays." The image change, aimed in part at potential future members still in their 30s and 40s, is part of its effort to reposition a group once called the American Association of Retired Persons, as being devoted to vigorous, working people who are over 50. "There is a lingering perception that AARP is a retiree organization," says Emilio Pardo, AARP chief brand director. "But people are living longer and working longer, and …

The makers of the drama "Lost" are talking with ABC about when to end the series. The finale isn't soon, but a deadline could help the writers of the convoluted show work on how to wrap it up. "Once we figure out when that will be, a lot of the questions will go away," says Carlton Cuse, an executive producer. "Lost" is in its third season, but the show's producers don't want to wear out their welcome a la ""The X-Files," Cuse adds. "That was a great show that probably ran two seasons too long. That is a …

A war of words between Bill O'Reilly and NBC seems to be getting louder with Fox News' chief bloviator charging the Peacock Network with going "sharply to the left." He recently told a radio audience that NBC is "an activist network now. They hate Bush across the board." Earlier, he admitted to NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell: "I don't like you guys." While Keith Olbermann has been O'Reilly's chief tormenter, MSNBC colleague Joe Scarborough says, "I certainly took offense when [O'Reilly] said there were no conservatives at the network; we were all liberal stooges and Marxist sympathizers." Scarborough, …

With sales stagnant, Bayer has reverted to an old idea to put some new marketing oomph behind its flagship aspirin brand. The new positioning and theme line is "Expect Wonders," a variation of the old "The wonder drug that works wonders." In addition, it will roll out new packaging, a new Web site and a promotion to be announced in a free-standing insert to more than 40 million homes on Super Bowl Sunday. Omnicom Group's BBDO Worldwide, New York, handles the campaign. And while it won't necessarily be spending more than the $40 million it currently …

Blank spaces could be on the endangered list, as advertisers are apparently determined to fill them all in. Among the examples: eggs stamped with the names of CBS shows; subway turnstiles with messages from Geico; ads on US Airways' barf bags; and trays in airport security lines that tout Rolodexes. Marketers used to try most to reach people at home, but with viewing and reading habits changing so fast, many now think the best way to reach time-pressed consumers is at every possible turn. "We never know where the consumer is going to be at any point …

While the Super Bowl is a huge annual revenue producer for whatever network airs it, it is getting increasingly hard to sell. For instance, with just three weeks to go, CBS has sold a bit over 70% of its in-game inventory, leaving it with about 16 spots left to move. While the Tiffany Network could take in as much as $120 million to $140 million on the three-hour game alone--on top of the take from six hours of pregame programming--the period just before kickoff is a time of severe angst for sales teams facing fourth and goal. …

ABC's "Ugly Betty," a drama that has been drawing 5 million viewers ages 18 to 49, is the best prime-time ad buy on the tube this season, according to a study by the New York Post--costing advertisers just $1.85 for every 100 viewers in the key demographic. In second place is NBC's "Heroes," a comic book-style drama about a group of superheroes trying to save the world. Its cost for the same 100 viewers is $1.93. "Anybody who put their dollars on "Heroes" got quite a bargain," says trade magazine Mediaweek. To calculate the best bargain, the …

A talk-radio station that was called Philadelphia's "voice of the African-American community" has gone silent after more than 80 years. WHAT-AM, founded in 1925 and among the first in the nation to hire black talent, had a small but loyal following. Staff were told late last week that their jobs were terminated. "It's a huge loss for the community," says Thaddeus Mathis of Temple University's Center for African-American Research and Public Policy. "For some people, this is their only way to find out what's happening; it's their key source of information." The station will be off …

A People magazine piece on Britney Spears and her new boyfriend was just five paragraphs long and reported and written by seven people. But with layoffs on tap at Time Inc., such reporter-heavy treatment is headed the way of Kevin Federline, Ms. Spears's soon-to-be-ex-husband. The magazine unit is ready to chop more than 150 people--half in editorial--across its best-known titles, such as Sports Illustrated, Time and Fortune. The firings follow 600 last year, many from the business side, and a move to sell about 18 of its 150 books. Time Inc. chief Ann Moore has not publicly …

The ad industry has been quiet about this year's Super Bowl ads--the ones usually dissected on TV and radio talk shows, newspapers and blogs--not to mention around office water coolers. With just three weeks to go until Feb. 4, only 13 advertisers have admitted buying into the game and an even smaller handful, including Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet and Doritos, have hyped the pre-game marketing. The rest--among them AIG, FedEx, CareerBuilder, GoDaddy, Honda and Snickers--have yet to go public. One reason for their relative silence may be price. While buying a slot on the Super Bowl once represented a daring …