Call it Madison Avenue's snowball effect. A year ago, Travelers Insurance debuted a visually arresting ad showing a man who trips while walking down a San Francisco street. As he tumbles forward, he sweeps up everything in his path - another couple, a table, a bride and groom, a car - creating a giant ball of debris.

A new DVD set from NBC Universal, "Saturday Night Live: The Best of '06/'07," went on sale exclusively at Starbucks outlets in the last week of August. But it may prove as popular as a Venti hot chocolate on a steamy summer day.

Riding a wave of interest in digital video advertising, Adspace Networks in August raised a $20 million round of financing led by private equity fund The Walnut Group. AdSpace, a video display network that operates digital displays in 75 malls nationwide, plans to expand to 100 locations by year's end.

Republican presidential candidates aren't exactly clamoring for their turn at the CNN/YouTube "People's Debate." Mitt Romney expressed doubts about the "respectfulness" of the format and reluctance "to answer questions from a snowman" (as candidates did during the Democratic CNN/YouTube debate).

Wikipedia has become the go-to source for a huge range of factoids and the digital equivalent of Who's Who for the 21st century. Anybody who's anybody has their own entry, right?

Socially responsible marketing and branding campaigns: That's the mission of Turf, a New York agency that recently relaunched, with an eye on the burgeoning green movement. It's a niche that more agencies are likely to pursue as consumers increasingly demand eco-friendly products and services.

Is oxygen headed to the altar with NBC Universal? That's a rumor that surfaced last month in various news accounts. The female-oriented cable network with 73 million subscribers has long had a "For Sale" sign up, openly pursuing deals in the past with potential buyers like CBS and Viacom.

Gemstar-TV guide International in June announced it would hold the TV Guide Online Video Awards later this year to recognize "the best and most innovative professional video programming, created specifically for the Web."

A&E Television Networks is already making good on its upfront season pledge to create new digital and mobile extensions as part of its plan to spend $600 million overall on development. The cable network recently unveiled a spate of new media initiatives, including a deal with Southwest Airlines to let passengers download free A&E shows to watch during flights.

Now that Rupert Murdoch has bagged The Wall Street Journal, speculation is rife that the paper's Web site will switch to a free, ad-supported model.