Cadbury Schweppes is readying the biggest beverage rollout in its history with a campaign to support Accelerade, its entry into the red-hot sports drink category long ruled by Gatorade. Some $50 million in marketing will be behind the brand under the tagline "Sweat smarter." Ads tout Accelerade's claim of providing superior endurance for athletes but don't feature celebrity endorsers, unlike Gatorade and Powerade, which Young & Rubicam handles. The move comes as Cadbury goes ahead with plans to split the company's confectionery and U.S. beverage divisions. Taking on the leaders is apt to be an uphill …

Pfizer is on the hot seat after a consumer group accused the pharmaceutical giant of playing down the safety risks of Celebrex in a new spot. The world's biggest drugmaker began running TV ads for Celebrex last week after more than two years. It stopped touting the arthritis drug after Merck rival drug Vioxx was withdrawn from the market. Both Vioxx and Celebrex are billed as gentler than naproxen and ibuprofen -- both available over the counter -- but the withdrawal of Vioxx and Pfizer's Bextra put the category under a shadow and sales plunged. Now, Public Citizen …

CBS Radio will suspend Don Imus' morning talk show for two weeks after he called the Rutgers' women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." The news comes after protests by a wide range of groups and a lackluster apology from Imus. CBS made its announcement without elaboration, but MSNBC, where parts of his show are televised, says his regret at making the slur and stated intention to change the show's attitude are an appropriate response. "Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word," the network says. Meanwhile, the cable net says it will …

Four top ad spenders have joined a new campaign for the consumer magazine industry that is aimed at underlining the effectiveness of the medium. The ads, which feature Charles Schwab, Hewlett-Packard, Saturn and Verizon Wireless, are running in trade pubs and feature jagged portions of a full-page ad torn from a magazine, along with copy about how readers tear ads out and respond to them. Advertisers see the effort as a way to get in-depth product information to readers, so they can take the ad with them. The campaign is set to run in various trades, including Advertising …

With virtually no growth in medical/surgical ad spending during the first half of last year, there was a slight bump in the back half of 2006, resulting in a total increase of about 2% for the year, according to PERQ/HCI's Journal Ad Review. Ad pages, meanwhile, were up 1%. But the figures show that journals have yet to stage a strong break-out from the marginal gains observed in recent years. Since 2000, year-on-year spend has remained flat. Of the top five medical/surgical journals by dollars, only American Medical News managed an increase in ad pages -- up 11%. At …

The station that produces Don Imus' radio talk show has vowed to keep a closer eye on him after he apologized for referring to players on the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." WFAN-AM, New York says it is "disappointed by Imus' actions earlier this week, which "we find completely inappropriate. We fully agree that a sincere apology was called for and will continue to monitor the program's content going forward." Imus himself apologized for the comments made on his nationally syndicated program. On Friday, Imus said the remarks were "completely inappropriate," and "thoughtless and stupid." But …

American Express is rolling out a new campaign to introduce the tagline, "Are you a cardmember?" TV, print and outdoor ads tout the benefits that AmEx offers its holders, including the option to use points to purchase plane tickets online. The first TV spot, featuring snowboarder Shaun White, breaks Monday. Print ads show AmEx answers to questions that strt with "Are you..." One asks, "Are you arriving in Dallas to find your bags are in Uzbekistan? Or, "Are you glad you have complimentary baggage insurance?" Spending for the new campaign was not disclosed, but the company spends $400-$500 million …

Presidential candidate John Edwards, encouraged by activists, bloggers and Jesse Jackson, has dropped out of a scheduled debate for September that is to sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Fox News. According to Edwards deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince, "There's just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform to advance the right-wing agenda, while pretending they're objective." But the campaign also went out of its way to note Edwards will participate in a CBC debate hosted by CNN. Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is also opposed to the Fox debates and has …

In a turnabout linked to contract issues, Revlon reversed its decision to move media-buying and planning duties for its $150 million account from Carat to Initiative. According to an Initiative spokesman, the two "were unable to agree on satisfactory business terms," while Ray Warren, president of Carat Americas, says he is "delighted to have Revlon back in the Carat family, and we're looking forward to growing the account around the world." Revlon announced plans to jump to Initiative last month with CEO David Kennedy saying at the time how "excited" he was about the switch. He added …

A Salt Lake City car dealership has pulled a TV ad campaign featuring a character representing Confucius after complaints from at least two Asian-American groups. The Ken Garff Automotive Group had been running the spots for its Honda cars.In them, a character representing the Chinese philosopher is asked a question, and it is answered in broken English. The University of Utah's Asian-American Student Association and the Utah Organization of Chinese-Americans sent letters to the dealership saying they wanted the spots off the air. "It is as offensive to Confucian believers for your company to invoke Confucius as a …