While consumers have better-than-average recall of "green advertising," they aren't buying into at the same rate, according to a study by Burst Media. The company surveyed about 6,000 people 18 and over about their perception of environmental marketing, and while almost three-quarters recall seeing green ads upon occasion, more than 20% don't ever believe them and two-thirds only believe them "sometimes." Still, there is some appreciation of the efforts among the core group of 5% of people who identify themselves as "completely green" consumers, with better than 40% of that subset saying that advertisers are doing a …

Even with the business travel slowdown, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts is set to put more money into marketing conference rooms in an attempt to pull in corporate execs who might enjoy some golf amid the seminars. "The down market is the time to put your message out there loud and clear," says Gina LaBarre, vice president of brand management for the Crowne Plaza parent Intercontinental Hotels Group. "It's not the time to cut back on your marketing spend ... for us a lot of it is due to an increase of supply [in business meeting hotels], so we're …

Laura Bush will "guest host" an hour of NBC's "Today" show next week, with the wife of the unpopular George W. taking to the air at 9 a.m. EDT April 22 -- the morning of the Pennsylvania primary. That time in the four-hour morning show usually has politics set aside for women's issues, as females make up the majority of the audience. Mrs. Bush will participate in several segments and interviews, NBC says, and even be joined daughter Jenna to talk about their new children's book, "Read All About It!" Bush will also give the net's Ann …

As broadcast TV stations prepare for the switch to all-digital signals early next year, more than 5 million U.S. households to date have taken Uncle Sam up an offer of discount coupons to buy a box that will make sure their analog sets continue to work. Each U.S. household is entitled to two $40 coupons toward the purchase of converters, which sell for about $60. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration says that 10 million coupons have been requested since the program began at the New Year. "We're doing a pretty good job so far," says Meredith …

Motor sports cable net SPEED has tapped Alonzo Bodden, winner of "Last Comic Standing 3," to host "101 Cars You Must Drive," a new series set for a June rollout. The channel has ordered up ten 30-minute episodes, all in high definition. Bodden, the former jet mechanic, "knows his way around cars," the net says and will take a "comedic look" at some "famous and not-so-famous" automobiles. "It's funny how big our cars [are] and how slowly we drive them," Bodden notes. Compared to "Europe or Japan, we love our big cars. Compared to Germany and Italy and …

ABC will soon announce that late-night program "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is to integrate live commercials into each episode, with the first such spots ready to go next month. A throwback to the early days of TV, the practice went out of style 30 years ago when most shows began being taped -- and had multiple advertisers. But with clutter increasing, live spots are a way to stand out -- and some advertisers believe they can also beat the increasingly-ubiquitous DVR by integrating product into the content of the show. Says Doug Hochstadt, vice president of late-night sales …

Top-selling novelist Patricia Cornwell has inked a deal with Lifetime to adapt two of her popular crime novels into made-for-TV movies. She has worked in TV before as writer/executive producer of ABC's 1999 series "ATF." But Lifetime movies "At Risk" and sequel "The Front" marks the first time any of her books have been adapted for the either the big or small screen. "At Risk," which originally appeared as a serialization in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, was later released by in book form. "The Front" is for a May 20 book release. Lifetime has had …