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3 to Pitch Verizon Wireless In $300 Mil. Creative ReviewNEW YORK Verizon Wireless will hear pitches this week and next from the three shops contending for creative duties on its estimated $300 million account, sources said. IPG's McCann Erickson in New York will meet with the client on April 2. Havas' Arnold in Boston and WPP's J. Walter Thompson in New York will present on April 5. Presentations will revolve around the current "Are you in?" promotion, as well as ideas on how to freshen up the brand's "Test Man" character, sources said. A decision is due next month. The client parted with IPG's Lowe in New York in January. Boston consultancy Pile and Co. is handling. Media duties, with Publicis' Zenith Media in New York, are not in play. Hotwire.com Breaks First Work By McCann San FranciscoSAN FRANCISCO Online discount travel broker Hotwire.com today bows a national cable TV campaign from McCann Erickson San Francisco, the first work since creative shifted from DeVito Verdi in January. (Media duties are with Universal McCann in San Francisco.) The first of four spots begins with the words "cheap commercial" scrawled on a notebook and shows travel footage shot to look like a home movie. The tag, "Fly. Sleep. Drive. Cheap," remains. Three more ads, bowing next quarter, will follow people on trips, the client said. Hotwire said it would spend $55 million this year on ads. At Least 7 Shops to Return RFPs for $30 Mil. PetsmartRequests for proposals for Petsmart's $30 million creative duties are due back Friday, sources said. Expected to return the forms are: IPG's Campbell Mithun and Omnicom's Martin/Williams, both in Minneapolis; Dentsu's Colby & Partners in Santa Monica, Calif.; WPP's Young & Rubicam in Chicago; Grey and independents davidandgoliath and WongDoody, all in Los Angeles. As many as 20 agencies have been asked to participate in the first round. Select Resources International in Santa Monica, Calif., is handling. A decision is due by mid-June. The Phoenix-based client spent $25 million on ads in 2003, per TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. 4 Left in Contest for Pioneer Electronics' Promo AccountBOSTON Pioneer Electronics is in the final stages of a promotional review for its car-audio division, the client confirmed. Vying are Omnicom's Alcone Marketing in Los Angeles, Integer Group in Denver and U.S. Marketing and Promotions in Los Angeles; and independent Amp in Irvine, Calif. A decision is expected by the end of the month. Pioneer is seeking an agency to handle promotions for a new product related to navigation. Last year Pioneer spent $15 million on ads, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.Car Makers Rev Up In-Program Placement On Cable Nets NEW YORK General Motors and DaimlerChrysler have inked a series of in-program placement deals with cable networks. GM's Pontiac will sponsor a 30-minute feature, Secrets of the Stuntmen, on syndicated broadcast and cable networks such as Speed Channel and Spike TV next month. Stuntmen, which will air during infomercial slots, recreates a Hollywood car stunt with Pontiac vehicles. Breaks drive viewers to a Web site where they can enter to win a vehicle. Chrysler Group will have its 2005 300C luxury sedan featured in the 2004 season of Discovery's N.O.W. No Opportunity Wasted, a reality show that lets viewers live out their dreams for 72 hours. TNT will cross-promote its series The Grid with Daimler's Dodge 2004 Magnum in ads during the NBA playoffs. Pasta, Tortilla Makers to Bow Ads for Low-Carb EntriesNEW YORK Two marketers will bow national TV and print efforts next month for their low-carb entries. Dreamfields' $10 million national TV and print campaign, developed in-house, breaks in mid-May and focuses on the pasta's authentic taste, texture and appetite appeal. Print touts a money-back guarantee. Mission Foods next month will back its low-carb tortilla brand with a $3 million national print campaign tagged, "Lower your carbs. Not your expectations." Three ads by Fogerty Klein Monroe in Dallas play off low-carbers' habits of wrapping burgers in lettuce.

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