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U.S. Army Extends Contract With Leo BurnettWASHINGTON The U.S. Army plans to extend its contract with Publicis' Leo Burnett until March 20, 2006, to avoid a possible interruption in its advertising during a transition period after its $200 million review, an Army official said. The Army plans to choose a winner in December, which is when Burnett's contract was to expire. The same six agencies that participated in last year's Army competition, which was never completed, have again returned questionnaires, sources said. Responses were due Sept. 8. Participating are Burnett, Omnicom's BBDO, IPG's McCann Erickson and WPP's Grey, Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam.Sedgwick Rd. Wins $15 Mil. Tower Records AccountLOS ANGELES Interpublic Group's Sedgwick Rd., Seattle, has won Tower Records' estimated $15 million advertising account following a six-week review, the client confirmed. An integrated campaign will likely break in time for the 2005 holiday season. According to a Sedgwick representative, Santa Monica, Calif.-based consultancy Select Resources International initially distributed "dozens" of RFIs, then narrowed to a handful of West Coast contenders. SRI, Sedgwick Rd. and the Sacramento, Calif.-based client all declined to reveal the other finalists, but sources pointed to two: independents G&M Plumbing, Manhattan Beach, Calif., and WongDoody, Seattle. Both shops declined to comment. According to Tower evp-CMO Lynn Ferguson, Sedgwick Rd. will work with the company's in-house creative team on TV, viral and strategic-planning efforts.Salvation Army Spot Seeks To Do 'The Most Good' on ABCDALLAS The Richards Group will break its first national branding spot for The Salvation Army during an ABC News broadcast in mid-October, the agency said. The Dallas-based independent has released PSAs for the client in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but the new spot is designed to raise the nonprofit's image with the tagline, "Doing the most good," said principal Stan Richards. Billings for the client, which hired The Richards Group last spring, are estimated at $7 million. The new spot, which is still being edited, uses images of beneficiaries to show the array of programs The Salvation Army offers, from drug and alcohol treatment to disaster relief, with voiceover from actress Susan Eisenberg. Richards' Danny Bryan and Todd McArtor were creative directors for the 30-second spot. Mullen's New Managing Partner To Work on GM, Other Accounts BOSTON Tom Jump starts today at Interpublic Group's Mullen in Wenham, Mass., as executive vice president and one of four managing partners, the agency said. Jump, 43, reports to CEO Joe Grimaldi and replaces George Rogers, who left the shop in May to join WPP Group's J. Walter Thompson. Jump comes from IPG's Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston, where he was evp, group account director on Dunkin' Donuts, CVS and The Boston Globe, among others. At Mullen, Jump will be part of the agency's executive team and will lead several accounts including General Motors, XM Satellite Radio and the U.S. Department of Defense. 'The Office' Workers to Frequent GSD&M Client Chili'sDallas Omnicom's GSD&M has brokered a deal that makes a replica of a Chili's Grill and Bar the regular watering hole for NBC comedy series The Office, according to the Austin, Texas, agency. The cost of the deal was not disclosed. Chili's, part of Dallas-based Brinker International and a major client for GSD&M, spent $100 million on ads in 2004 and $65 million through July 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The second season of The Office debuts at 9:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The deadpan mockumentary, fictionally set in New York but filmed in Van Nuys, Calif., ranked 123 in viewership in 2004, with an average of 5.4 million viewers as measured by Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

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