• Dallas Morning News via WFAA.com, Tuesday, June 5, 2007 10:30 AM

In what it claims is a first, Kimberly-Clark is putting a paper towel in about 1 million copies of Reader's Digest in order to drive sampling. One piece of the Viva towel brand will be in the mags, along with another in 800,000 of this month's Everyday With Rachael Ray.

Along with enough paper to cover 50 football fields, the ads include a $1 coupon. "The challenge was how to get Viva into people's hands," says Dave Wears, marketing director for Viva. "It's very much of an experiment." But at least one observer wonders how well the approach will work.

"You're expected to use the free sample and say 'You know what? This is better than what I'm using,' " says Dan Howard, chairman of the marketing department at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business. "But with one little miserable piece of paper towel, how the heck are you going to know?"

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