Rodale's Men's Health is putting Men's Health Living out as a 400,000-copy newsstand-only special this week. The glossy book, featuring ads from luxury brands like Calvin Klein Home and Armani/Casa, is just one of many single-issue specials published by Rodale each year and is not intended as a full spin-off, says a spokeswoman. "We do 25 per year across all magazines," she says, "and we're not planning to do another." Still some note the company's tendency to test numerous issues of magazines before fully committing to them and suspect Living might be around for a while. After …

Microsoft execs have long enjoyed tweaking their competitors but these days, ridicule is giving way to worry. Feeling the pressure from rivals Apple and Google, the company is readying a huge ad effort behind its consumer products starting in 2008. The company is hearing pitches from four agencies -- including incumbent McCann Erickson and Crispin Porter & Bogusky -- for a new campaign backed by a $200-million-to-$300-million in media. Microsoft isn't talking, but insiders say it's being pushed at a high level and is aimed at increasing demand for products it thinks are taken for granted by …

WPP Group has topped out Interpublic in a seven-month holding company battle over Dell's three-year, $4.5 billion account.The British advertising and marketing services conglomerate will now need to build a new agency with 1,000-plus staffers to take care of the computer-maker's global marketing needs. The two firms will "jointly develop what we hope is the greatest agency in the world," says Casey Jones, vice president, global marketing at Dell. "This will be a nontraditional relationship, and the purpose of it is to achieve marketing objectives of Dell's that are simply not achievable either with our current roster of agencies …

The U.S. advertising market is slowing down and is apt to be under a lot of pressure at least through 2009, according to one industry analyst. Lee Westerfield of BMO Capital Markets says, "an advertising cycle downturn now overshadows the media marketplace" and the"waning ad cycle is now in its early stage." He feels the "ad cycle retrenchment will likely stretch through 2009 and now expects U.S. ad spending growth of only 2.6% this year, 3.6% in 2008 and 2.7% the year after that. Next year's spending will be helped by the U.S. presidential elections and the …

A new ad campaign hopes to position the fur industry - long demonized by some environmental and animal rights groups -- as an eco-friendly business. The Fur Council of Canada has rolled out print ads touting its "eco-fashion"to consumers, while countering past and present anti-fur campaigns. According to Alan Herscovici, the council's executive vice-president, "it was important to explain the real story of the fur industry. And that is 'if you care about nature and protecting the environment, fur is an excellent choice." One ad criticizes fake fur for its petrochemicals, calling them "non-renewable resources that cause …

Madison Avenue is now reaching all the way down to the high school athlete level to help Nike sell its stuff, handing out equipment - and logoed uniforms -- to football players competing for a state championship in Ohio. Several high schools in the Buckeye State are at the center of a new trend to commercialize high school sports. The schools' affiliation with athletic companies is saving them a lot of money in uniform and equipment costs, although some educators are concerned about using high school athletes as walking billboards. But Nike has identified high school football as key …

A billboard that delivers solar energy to Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers will be unveiled Monday in San Francisco. The nation's first solar-powered billboard, prominently visible from the highway, features 20 solar modules connected to PG&E's grid and can pump up to 3.4 kilowatts of solar power. Plus, in addition to installing solar, the utility has switched the board's halophane light fixtures to more energy-efficient LED lights. The effort is part of a broader ad campaign tagged "We Can Do This," touting the programs and services that reflect the company's commitment to the environment. With …