News Wire

Fallon Gives Miller a Fresh Tack CHICAGO--Fallon McElligott's new campaign for Miller Lite returns the brand to its roots, with retired jocks and others bantering about the beer's attributes. The new tagline is, "Miller Lite. The great taste of a true Pilsner beer." The ads feature baseball greats Robin Yount and George Brett; the band Earth, Wind and Fire; former NFL quarterbacks Dan Fouts and Ken Stabler; and model Rebecca Romijn-Stamos with sportswriter Rick Reilly. In pairs, they debate whether Miller Lite's taste stems from choice hops or "because it's smooth." The spots broke over the weekend on college basketball and cable telecasts. Fallon retained the creative portion of the $150 million account in January following a review that included Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore.; Young & Rubicam, New York; Square One, Dallas; and Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco. BBDO To Unveil New Pepsi-Cola Ads NEW YORK--BBDO will bow a TV campaign for Pepsi-Cola this month, the brand's first new effort in two years. Creative plays up celebrities, music and humor and introduces the theme, "The joy of cola." The campaign will feature the voices of Marlon Brando, Aretha Franklin, and Isaac Hayes, all emanating from the mouth of Hallie Eisenberg, the young girl who has anchored the client's most recent work. The spots are slated to break on the Academy Awards telecast on March 21. McDonald's Rolls Out Major Promo Effort BOSTON--Calling McDonald's national branding efforts fragmented and inconsistent, Arnold Communications has launched the first salvo in a yearlong campaign aimed at restoring some "luster" to the golden arches. The shop sold the estimated $100 million branding and promotional effort to each of the regional co-op groups it handles. The effort so far consists of a 60-second spot that features Donna Summer crooning new lyrics to her hit song, "She Works Hard for the Money." The ad sets up a half-dozen promotion or product-specific executions that use the same music and a "More" theme. AAF to Induct Hall of Fame Luminaries NEW YORK--The 50th anniversary celebration of the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Fame will be held March 16 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here. New inductees are Jay Chiat of TBWA/Chiat/Day; O. Milton Gossett, former chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide; Joyce Hall of Hallmark Cards; Marion Harper Jr., former chairman of Interpublic Group of Cos.; John Kennedy, former copywriter at Lord & Thomas; Burt Manning, former chairman of J. Walter Thompson; Leonard Matthews, former president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies; Frank Stanton, president emeritus of CBS; Janet Wolff, former executive vice president of William Esty Co.; and Lester Wunderman, founder of Wunderman LLC. JWT Touts Merrill's Achievements NEW YORK--J.Walter Thompson will roll out its integrated $70 million global ad campaign for Merrill Lynch with the theme "Human achievement" in TV spots touting its Private Client group. Breaking on the Academy Awards telecast March 21, one of the 30-second executions opens with the wall of a home, dotted with family portraits. The spot ends with the portraits rearranged as an organizational chart, reflecting the idea of looking at life as a business. The second phase of the campaign will follow the launch of the corporate branding spots on March 10, and feature blues legend B.B. King. [Adweek, March 1]. Newswire Roundup Frierson Mee + Kraft in New York has picked up ad duties on several new global fragrance launches for Coty, also New York. Billings for the account are estimated at $25 million The New York Stock Exchange tapped BBDO, New York for its estimated $15-20 million account after ending its three-year relationship with Leo Burnett in Chicago. Exchange senior vice president Robert Zito said the company wanted to work with an NYSE-listed agency. The Omnicom Group unit will pick up the account after "an orderly transition," Burnett officials said Brink's Home Security tapped Ingalls in Boston and Deutsch in New York as finalists for its $10-15 million ad account, said Mike Claggett, the consultant running the Irving, Texas-based client's review. Eliminated last week were incumbent The Boston Group, Boston, pitching with FCB Direct, New York; Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston; Doner, Southfield, Mich.; and Lowe Fox Pavlika, New York GSD&M in Austin, Texas, confirmed it will not defend the $40 million Texas Lottery account when the business moves into a mandatory review later this month True North Communications' board of directors met in Chicago last week and said the company will buy back an additional $20 million in stock. The board also voted a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share. No information was disclosed on the status of TN's search for a successor to retiring chief Bruce Mason Long Haymes Carr chairman and CEO Steve Zades last week recruited Mylene Pollock from Ogilvy & Mather, New York, as the Raleigh, N.C., shop's new chief creative officer Hasbro, Cincinnati, shifted its $5 million Play-Doh account from Griffin Bacal, New York, to TBWA/Chiat/Day, also New York. TBWA Worldwide handles the Playskool and Play-Doh brands in Europe, and TBWA GGT Simons Palmer in London develops its global creative.

Brand Marketing

News Wire

Adweek Staff

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Adweek Staff