Republican Mitt Romney is the first presidential candidate to have run at least 10,000 political ads this election cycle, according to data form TNS Media Intelligence. And the ad-tracker says, "There is no White House hopeful in sight to catch up to him anytime soon -- unless a candidate immediately opens up the campaign war chest and begins to saturate the airwaves." But his campaign is "probably the quietest 10,000 commercials you will ever see," since ads have aired almost exclusively in Iowa and New Hampshire, with smaller runs in South Carolina and Florida.

Playboy has embarked on a potentially risky new strategy of putting a halter on its paid print circulation, while pumping up the free content available online. Instead of obsessing over retaining print readers and trying to sell content online, as in the past, Playboy's brand managers will now try to expand its reach wherever that may be. The approach is not new, as other publishers have tried it. But Playboy faces some tough choices as it slashes paid circulation by 13% to 2.6 million effective with the January issue -- and that is on top of 5% cut …

Magazine pages are shaping up as an unlikely new outlet for interactive, as technology for audio chips and batteries gets smaller and cheaper. Some marketers are now using said gizmos in print ads, including one for Yellow Tail wine that comes complete with four blinking firefly tails. Other print ads are also getting innovative with stuff for consumers to play with, like temporary tattoos, plant seeds and a 3-foot-long replica of the Ultimate Fighting Championship belt. All try to stand out amid clutter. In its October issue, the men's mag Maxim

Tom Green is making the jump to old media, taking his late-night Internet talk show to TV, with the program available in January. "Tom Green Live" is a one-hour show that airs online at 11 p.m. on weeknights, and the idea is to first get it onto a handful of stations. Debmar-Mercury, which is handling the rollout, did that with "Tyler Perry's House of Pain," which debuted on just 10 outlets. "That way we can let the show speak for itself instead of trying to sell a pilot first," says co-president Ira Bernstein. Green does the show …

Nokia's new ad campaign promoting their phones over Apple's insistence on locking theirs to one carrier is perfectly timed. In a move targeted at the iPhone, Nokia has been promoting the effort by hanging posters in top markets that feature slogans including, "the best devices have no limits" and "phones should be open to anything." The suggestion that Apple is cheating customers of access to their phones is apt to strike a chord. Many iPhone owners who have performed unauthorized hacks or modifications to their iPhones, like unlocking them for use on a network other than AT&T, have …

A Denver politician is upset with new ads from Wendy's that she claims glorify graffiti -- and she wants the campaign erased. City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz has sent a letter to the Burger Chain asking it to stop running an ad she saw at a movie theater that features a graffiti artist named Siloette spray-painting the "Wendy's girl" logo on a wall. "Please do not make our community efforts to stop graffiti vandalism harder and more expensive than it already is," Faatz writes, noting that the Mile-High city is apt to spend more than $1 million next year …

One top Wall Street analyst sees trouble ahead for the ad business, enough that he cut his price target on WPP Group, citing concerns of a softening U.S. economy. Gareth Davies of JP Morgan is bearish on the holding company's U.S. business next year and beyond, noting a recent stock tumble that has brought the company's shares down about 9% over the last few months. "More recent falls have been driven by macro concerns focused around the U.S. and U.K. consumer and the impact this could have on advertising spend," Davies says. He adds that WPP is also …

As part of a pricey launch for its fall series, NBC wrapped ads promoting "Heroes," "Journeyman" and "Chuck" around multiple sections of The New York Times and Los Angeles Times--and managed to upset some of their intended targets. Some customers in the Big Apple got their paper late, while readers of both sheets were annoyed by having to tear away ads before reading the news. This is one example of how networks, looking for new ways to break through, can risk turning off the very audience they want. The big nets typically shell out $35 million to $50 million a …

Monster.com has consolidated its global media account at Mediaedge:cia, insiders say, with the shop snaring domestic online and offline duties from Deutsch. Neither Monster or the agencies are talking, but apparently the business went to MEC without a review, based on its work for the company in Europe. Earlier this month, Monster signed up BBDO for New York on its global creative account. The moves come three months after Monster tapped Joan Blackwood as chief marketing officer, with her arrival--and sluggish growth--prompting the review. The company spent around $155 million in domestic measured media in each of the past two …

A duo of ad-agency executives is telling radio companies that they need to use better audience-measurement data to position themselves against other media options. According to Initiative Media Executive Vice President Janice Finkel-Greene, advertisers see television and the Internet advertising as more traceable: "People look at things like click-throughs, costs per thousand, and cost per action, and many believe in the concept that these kinds of metrics deliver advanced accountability," she says. Finkel-Greene adds that "radio has to come along, or people will. . . say that while radio is a great medium that's priced right, they don't know what …