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Citgo Receives Numerous Queries DALLAS--Citgo Petroleum, Tulsa, Okla., received 23 submissions from undisclosed agencies for its estimated $10 million-plus national account. Julie Anderson, company media director, said finalists will be culled from that group over the next three weeks. There are still no presentation or decision dates set. The media incumbent is Media First International, New York. Creative chores are currently handled in-house and on a project basis. Mitsubishi Pulls Deutsch TV Spot NEW YORK--A TV commercial for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America that referred to "that really bad smell on the Jersey Turnpike" was pulled last week after residents and local political leaders complained. The 30-second spot by Deutsch, New York, depicted rush-hour traffic on the turnpike with oil refinery towers in the background. The ad jokingly suggested that a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse could "outrun" the smell that "always manages to seep through your windows on the way through Newark." Agency principal Donny Deutsch said it was meant to be "cheeky." Procter & Gamble to Run HDTV Ads NEW YORK--Procter & Gamble bought time on the first nonexperimental, high-definition telecast of a sporting event, the March 31 Texas Rangers game being broadcast in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Said P&G representative Gretchen Briscoe, spots converted to HDTV from existing creative work will run, including ads from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, for Tide; Euro RSCG Tatham, Chicago, for Head & Shoulders; Jordan, McGrath, Case & Taylor, New York, for Bounty; and D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, New York, for Pampers and Scope. Cincinnati-based P&G ran spots for Ivory Soap during the first live, commercial TV broadcast on Aug. 26, 1939, a Brooklyn Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds game. APL Moves Amtrak to Chicago From N.Y. CHICAGO--Ammirati Puris Lintas is transferring its Amtrak Intercity account from New York to its office in Chicago, which it opened last year to serve Ameritech. Amtrak Intercity is headquartered in Chicago. About a dozen staffers will be relocated to the Chicago office, which currently has a staff of 50. Leap Group CFO Vezmar Resigns CHICAGO--The Leap Group is looking for a chief financial officer savvy in the ways of Wall Street following the resignation last week of Peter Vezmar, who joined Leap in June 1994 and has been CFO and treasurer since March 1996. The agency said it wants a CFO whose strengths are dealing with Wall Street--where Leap stock continues to languish under $2 per share--and instituting cost controls. FCB Wins SkyBox Creative Account NEW YORK--Foote, Cone & Belding here has landed creative duties for SkyBox's baseball, basketball and football cards after a two-month review. Parent company Fleer/SkyBox in Mount Laurel, N.J., still uses Stoner Bunting Advertising of Lancaster, Pa., for Fleer. Spending on SkyBox is less than $3 million. Brophy Succeeds de Maio at Brandweek NEW YORK--Ami Brophy will succeed Monique de Maio as publisher of Brandweek. The change is effective May 4, said Michael Parker, executive vice president, group publisher, Adweek Magazines. Brophy joined Adweek Magazines in 1994 and was most recently Western regional sales director. De Maio, who is leaving to start a sales and marketing consulting business, MdM & Partners, had been Brandweek's publisher since February 1994. Coke Marketing Chief Zyman Departs ATLANTA--Coca-Cola chief marketing officer Sergio Zyman resigned last week, as expected [Adweek, March 16]. "I need to find some balance," Zyman said in a statement. He is working on a marketing textbook and plans to consult, as he did before returning to Coke in 1993. Zyman nixed reports that he would move to Microsoft or Nike, or that he was at odds with his boss, chief executive Doug Ivester. Charles Frenette, a 20-year veteran who heads Coke's South African operations, replaces Zyman on May 1. Newswire Roundup Michael Buffer, well known for his "Let's get ready to rumble" call, will be featured in upcoming TV, print, radio and point-of-purchase ads for Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser and will serve as ring announcer at boxing events sponsored by the brand. The ads are the work of DDB Needham Chicago . . . Former New York mayor Ed Koch will host the 13th annual Best of New York American Advertising Awards on April 22, sponsored by Advertising Women of New York. The chief judge for the event is Kevin O'Neill, president of Warwick Baker O'Neill, which developed a New York deli theme for the awards, complete with an invitation that mimicked a deli menu For Eyes Optical will break one in a series of Titanic-themed spots tonight during the Academy Awards, courtesy of New York agency DeVito/Verdi. The first spot is a parody depicting the captain of the ill-fated ship mistaking an iceberg for a cone-shaped cloud, after which the spot cuts to a screen stating "Eyeglasses. Starting at $60." The tagline remains: "The store for people who can't see paying a lot for glasses." TradeMark Communications in Edina, Minn., acquired Webber Advertising, Eden Prairie, Minn., in a stock transaction. Terms were not disclosed. Webber recently lost its largest client when Redmond Products (marketer of Aussie hair care products) was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

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