Oliver Stone will direct a new TV spot from MoveOn.org and VoteVets.org that is aimed at getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. Stone, an award-winning director and Vietnam vet, has a 30-second ad that will air next month on national TV. It features a veteran of Iraq -- or his or her family -- discussing the impact of the increasingly bloody and unpopular conflict. "They're giving it from their personal experience, either being on the ground or being at home waiting for their mother, father, husband to come home," says MoveOn.org spokesman Alex Howe. Stone is not charging for …

HBO has yet to seal a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the red-hot mixed-martial-arts organization that has been pulling huge ratings with both its pay-per-view and free TV -- on Spike -- offerings. While UFC president Dana White was quoted as saying he had finalized a pact to bring the UFC to the pay cable net this summer, HBO spokesman Ray Stallone says it has "nothing to announce" regarding a deal. He does, however, confirm there have been discussions. Meanwhile, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg says the UFC has a great fan base and is …

Chili's has said goodbye to a top marketing exec and should soon announce it has also parted ways with GSD&M on its $125 million account. Chili's has been through a rough sales patch, recently reporting the sixth consecutive month of decline. Gone is Ken Thewes and insiders say GSD&M will be right on his heels. While some blame Chili's results on the weather, most of the evidence points to segment declines, and Chili's relative lack of promotion, despite a new menu in January. The company spent diddly on ads in January and February, but went back on air last …

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 …

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," " …

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 …

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 …

Fidelity Investments is rolling out a new ad campaign to replace a series featuring former Beatle Paul McCartney. The new effort, produced by Arnold Worldwide and directed by Joe Pytka, goes for a more direct approach, using humor to show exchanges people have about investing and retirement planning. "The McCartney ads are no longer in rotation. This is our new ad campaign," says a spokeswoman. It will comprise TV, online and print ads and will three 30-second TV spots that debut on Fox's "American Idol" and ABC's "Lost." McCartney signed with Fidelity in 2005 because, the firm …

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 …

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 …