Some consumer and health groups charge that prescription-drug ads can be deceitful, interfere with the doctor-patient relationship and lead to unnecessary drug use. While the Food and Drug Administration requires mandatory risk information in ads and bars "false and misleading" messages, it is not required to review them before they hit the air. So it's not clear whether the FDA reviews most advertisements at all. For instance, a Government Accountability Office report last year found FDA reviews only a "small portion" of the ads it get, and does not use consistent criteria when doing so. And it does not …

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has hit MTV in an Earth Day promotion featuring an 800-horsepower car that can run on biodiesel. Schwarzenegger shows up in a special episode of "Pimp My Ride" in his latest environmentally-themed event. Mechanics installed the new engine in a 1965 Chevy Impala and managed to craft a vehicle that accelerates from zero to 60 mph in three seconds. He says the car's emissions of greenhouse gases will be half that of a gas-powered car: When Schwarzenegger first ran for office four years ago, he was slammed for his gas-guzzling Hummers, but says he has …

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is vowing to fight what he says are new attempts by tobacco companies to sell cigarettes to kids. Elected last fall, he notes the "the Senate again is re-engaging in the whole tobacco issue," adding that the industry "lied" when they said they had stopped marketing to children. He points to similarities between a new cigarette campaign and a popular perfume. "There's a new ad campaign, Camel No. 9," Brown says. "It looks like Chanel No. 19. It's pink. ... You can't look at Camel No. 9 and think they're not marketing to children, or …

Amp'd Mobile has three San Francisco-area ad agencies participating in a review of its $65 million account. Insiders say contenders are Omnicom's Cutwater, Publicis & Hal Riney and independent Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. The agencies and search consultancy Select Resources decline comment, but final presentations are slated for mid-May, with a decision by the end of the month. Incumbent Taxi is not involved in the review. Amp'd aims at 15-34-year-old mobile-phone subscribers who like features such as TV service, video on demand and Web browsing on their phones. Last month, the company said it will use Third …

TV commercials are always easy to make and can be might expensive, especially for small businesses. But a couple of startups are making it cheaper and more efficient for companies that don't have a lot of cash to throw around. One company in this burgeoning market is Spot Runner, which has the backing of firms like Interpublic, WPP and CBS, all of which have invested in it. A more recent entry is Amsterdam-based Spotzer. Both have libraries of pre-produced commercials available for customization and will also help clients with media buying and planning. Andrew Klein, founder of Spotzer, has …

Following a month of talks, the future for NBC crime dramas "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," remains unsolved. Following rumors about the cancellation of the original series, a meeting between reps for creator Dick Wolf and the network moved it back into "undecided" status. Negotiations between the two are apt to stretch into next month before any decisions are made. "Law & Order: SVU," meanwhile, has already been renewed. "Talks have been taking place and continue to take place about the future of both "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," " …

A Senate committee has moved a bit closer to letting the Food and Drug Administration ban outright any direct-to-consumer drug advertising for a product's first two years on the market. Democrats on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee beat back a Republican move to strip the ban from a law reauthorizing fees for the review of new drugs. The legislation is apt to get a full floor vote in June but the GOP -- much larger recipients of pharmaceutical industry campaign cash promises a fight. The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the committee's …

WPP Group's MindShare will put together its two largest clients -- Sprint and Unilever -- in a multimedia project aimed at providing a forum to discuss motherhood issues, while promoting their inventory. The agency says it is the first time it put two companies in a single venture, but the brains behind it, David Lang, managing director of MindShare Entertainment, has other, similar projects in development. "While their products and services are on opposite ends of the spectrum, both brands share a keen understanding of a mom's life and offer solutions to help her stay connected and look …

The San Francisco Chronicle has become the latest newspaper to publish a front-page ad, with a six-inch by five-inch box in the lower right corner from Pacific Gas & Electric. The paper thus joins many other big-city and national dailies in the growing industry trend to leverage anything and everything to garner more revenue. Editor Phil Bronstein defends the decision and says it will not affect news coverage: "These are the times we live in. It is a hard case to make that you shouldn't do this as a concept, when you are in as much of a financial hole …

BET Networks is rolling out the most ambitious programming lineup in its history, with six new original series, including some scripted fare. Over the last few years, parent Viacom has given BET's a bigger budget, freeing it from dependence on syndicated and off-net shows. One new project in the works is "Somebodies," a single-camera sitcom about a group of post-collegiate slackers based on a 2006 film. It is slated to come out in the fourth quarter of this year. Scripted comedy might seem to be a stretch for the cable net, but BET president, media sales, Louis Carr says …