• by Adam Bernard , September 7, 2001

Every week brings a myriad of ad campaign and website launches and it's nearly impossible to keep up with them all. If you missed a few, here are some the major launches of the week that was, and the week that will be.

truth, the nation's largest anti-tobacco campaign targeting teens, debuted three new advertisements during their annual MTV Video Music Awards on September 6. The new ads feature truth teens exposing the hazards of tobacco, this time by highlighting chemicals found in cigarettes and cigarette smoke, such as ammonia and cyanide. The new creative is part of the truth campaign's ongoing effort that challenges Big Tobacco and tobacco industry practices.

Energizer wants to know: "Do You Have the Bunny Inside?" Beginning this week, Energizer launches a new campaign that literally puts the Energizer Bunny inside its full line of high performance batteries and asks consumers to do the same when they load up their battery-operated devices. The advertising is part of a $100 million marketing program behind the Energizer franchise. The campaign starts with ads for Energizer e2 high performance batteries made with titanium technology, and will be followed by spots for Energizer Max, the newly restaged flagship brand. The initial ad in the campaign shows the Energizer Bunny pushing in and out of the high performance Energizer e2 battery while spinning, sliding and soaring, barely able to contain the massive amounts of power within the e2 battery. TBWA/Chiat/Day produced the commercials.

Lexus has purchased a twelve-month advertising campaign on Edmunds.com, the web's consumer resource for unbiased automotive information. As a result of this ad buy, Lexus will be one of the first automakers to purchase conquest ads on its competitors' model-dedicated "index pages."

Estee Lauder announced that supermodel Carolyn Murphy will be the newest face to represent the Estee Lauder brand, joining Elizabeth Hurley, who has been the face of Lauder for the past 7 years. The new Estee Lauder dual global image maximizes the combined beauty and potential of Elizabeth Hurley's captivating persona and Carolyn Murphy's classic American style to convey the unique messages of the brand to consumers worldwide. Carolyn Murphy's first advertising campaign for Estee Lauder will appear in the January 2002 issues of all major beauty, fashion and lifestyle magazines worldwide.

Staying with the art of making faces beautiful, Delta Dental Plan of California, the state's largest dental health plan, is introducing a lifestyle approach into its new consumer ad campaign that breaks September 17th in the Wall Street Journal. Created by Gardner Geary Coll of San Francisco, the campaign emphasizes the client's "We keep you smiling" tag with slice-of-life vignettes that are intended to bring a smile to readers who view them. The print ads capture moments in life when people have a lot to smile about. These include a woman who fits into jeans she hasn't worn since college; a dad who's thrilled because his child's first word is "daddy"; and a woman hears her alarm goes off only to realizes it's Saturday. San Francisco photographer Stephanie Rauser created the custom photography for the ads.

Now that you're all dolled up, maybe you'd like to take a trip. Well, polar bears, puppies, penguins and a whole range of other cuddly-looking creatures have been recruited to spread the word about oneworld, the most international of the global airline alliances, in a new multi-million dollar worldwide advertising campaign. The new campaign focuses on creature comforts. For example, two polar bears are seen lounging comfortably in their natural habitat above a headline that reads, "It's natural to want to be comfortable," to get across the point that eligible oneworld passengers can gain access to any of its member airlines' airport lounges. The campaign will run in key business magazines and newspapers in the United States, in almost 50 publications in scores of countries, and on hundreds of poster sites in 18 countries. Overall, the campaign will use 17 different languages, including English, Spanish, Finnish, French and Chinese.

Perhaps you'd rather drive. On the heels of the announcement that "Grab Life By The Horns" is the new advertising theme line for the cars, trucks and minivans sold under the Dodge brand, a new TV spot highlighting the next generation 2002 Dodge Ram pickup truck debuted last night during the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards on MTV. The ads used music by Aerosmith, the legendary rock and roll band that is partnering with Dodge. In addition to the advertising campaign, Dodge is sponsoring Aerosmith's "Just Push Play," 48-city tour now underway. The 30-second spot, titled "Reflections," will next air during the Latin GRAMMY Awards on Tuesday, September 11 on CBS. The Ram TV and print ads were developed by PentaMark Worldwide.

Now that you've arrived, where will you stay? Marriott International, Inc. is launching a major new broadcast and print advertising campaign featuring wry humor and a cast of unexpected celebrities. The new campaign, which debuted the evening of September 5th and will run on all major networks and cable, promotes the company's fall weekend rates. It is also the first television campaign to support the portfolio of Marriott brands. The first ad premiered on NBC's new primetime show, "Lost" (Marriott is a national sponsor), and fully launches the week of September 10 on the three major networks and on cable. The heavy cable schedule includes CNN, VH1, A&E, and the Travel and Weather channels. The following week, the print campaign will appear in USA Today and in newspapers in the top U.S. markets. In each of the four television spots, a celebrity interrupts an ordinary moment in a typical family's routine day to suggest a weekend getaway. The first spot features Alice Cooper, while other celebrities in the campaign include David Copperfield (for Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites), Robin Leach (for Courtyard by Marriott) and Jeff Probst (for Fairfield Inn). Each spot ends with "Your Marriott Awaits" and a toll-free reservations number.

Energy issues are debated in candid discussions with people across the United States in a new advertising campaign from BP, the largest oil and gas producer in the US and a major retailer of gasoline. Interviews were conducted with people on the street who expressed their views on oil companies, energy, alternative fuels, and other issues. The ads started running this week on television, and in magazines and newspapers around the country. The comments are followed by information about actions BP is taking to address the issues of concern.

Switchboard Incorporated, a provider of directory technology and Nearbuy locally targeted e-marketing solutions, launched a national advertising campaign promoting its free, online directory, Switchboard.com. Switchboard will advertise on CBS television properties using approximately $7.5 million in advertising credits. The credits close out a recently restructured agreement with the media company. The national television campaign is intended to attract Internet users to Switchboard.com while establishing the mindset that online directories are a powerful Internet utility. The new ads, created by The Garfield Group of Newtown, Pennsylvania, have a hip, memorable feel and feature a new tagline, "Switchboard. It's the yellow pages. Electrified."

BusinessWeek's new brand campaign, "See inside," developed by DCA, will kick off in early September with an outdoor buy in New York and San Francisco in excess of $1 million. Creative includes four different executions to support the brand, two of which are general and two of which focus on the magazine's strength as a personal finance tool. There are also two executions that support BusinessWeek's new personal finance television program which launches in October. In late September, a direct mail effort, based on the campaign and targeted at the advertising trade community, will launch. Complementing these tactics will be a DRTV effort, beginning in October and running through the end of the year. In the first quarter of 2002, a $2 million print campaign is slated to launch that will include a mix of national consumer magazines and newspapers. This will be supplemented by another $1+ million in outdoor and, throughout the year, another half million dollars in DRTV spending.