Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Fri, Mar 27 1992 Date: Fri, 27 Mar 92 05:43:21 EST Message-ID: 03-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update March 27-29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MCDONALD'S TO COVER BILLBOARDS: The slogan "great food at a great value at McDonald's" will soon be seen on billboards throughout the USA. Starting May 1, the fast-food king plans to cover about 5% of U.S. outdoor billboards as part of a new advertising campaign designed to lure more customers. The ads will be plastered on about 20,000 billboards. (For more, see special Billboards package below.) `DESIGNING WOMEN' TO RETURN: "Designing Women" is expected to sign a contract to return to CBS next fall. But Julia Duffy won't be on the show and it might get moved to a different night. A deal between Columbia Pictures Television - "Women's" production company - and CBS is expected to be signed Monday. Producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, through a spokeswoman, said the show "definitely" will be back. "D.C." TO AIR IN FALL: CBS has a new sitcom planned for fall from producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. "D.C." will star John Ritter and Markie Post. CBS is considering pairing it with "Murphy Brown" and moving "Designing Women" to Wednesdays, where it would be a companion to a new sitcom from "Murphy Brown" creator Diane English, "Love Is Hell," starring Jay Thomas. `ROC' LIKELY TO RETURN: The Fox Network hasn't officially renewed "Roc" for fall, but star Charles S. Dutton says he's been told it's a shoo-in. He says next year's shows will return to the "original vision - to show the first black man on TV with real rage." Dutton wants more shows that look at things such as drugs and violence. REEBOK TO TARGET WOMEN: Reebok's new $28 million advertising campaign targets women. The Reebok "I Believe" campaign will debut Monday. It was produced by Chiat:Day:Mojo and is an extension of the 1992 brand campaign, "Life is Short. Play Hard. Reebok." It features women engaging in a variety of vigorous fitness activities, including aerobics, power walking, mountain biking, running and cross training. ANTI-AIDS ADS CRITICIZED: The federal government showed its latest anti-AIDS ads Thursday and was quickly criticized for not being explicit enough to prevent anyone from getting the disease. "Read it. Study it. Pore over it. And you still won't know anything about how to prevent yourself from getting HIV or what to do if you test positive," said Ernesto Hinojos, education director for Gay Men's Health Crisis. ADS EXPLOIT CHECK SCANDAL: Sensing they can exploit the House check-kiting scandal politically, House Republicans Thursday unveiled ads in which they finger the Democrats for blame. "The Democrat bank scandal is a metaphor for how they run everything," says Rep. Guy Vander Jagt, R-Mich., head of the National Republican Congressional Committee that produced the ads and will air them starting next week. SPECIAL VOGUE HAS 579 PAGES: A special issue of Vogue hits the newstands in April and vendors better get out of the way. It has 579 pages. The special edition, celebrating the fashion magazine's 100th year, has 323 pages of ads. The newstand price is $3. The magazine has a circulation of 1.25 million. AD FEATURES MARATHONER: Asics shoes has begun running ads featuring Tanzanian marathoner Juma Ikangaa. It uses the line "the will to win is nothing without the will to prepare." The line was not developed by an advertising agency, however. It is one of Ikangaa's own sayings. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BILLBOARDS: CAMPAIGN TO HIT ALL OF USA: Combined with extensive television ads, McDonald's "Big Food" billboard campaign is aimed at virtually the entire USA. McDonald's won't say how much the campaign will cost or how long it will run. "Billboard ads aren't something new for us. Traditionally, they've been part of local marketing," says spokeswoman Rebecca Caruso. "But this effort is a way to reach more customers." LARGEST BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN EVER: McDonald's says its campaign is the largest billboard promotion of a single brand, although the Institute of Outdoor Advertising can't confirm the claim. The outdoor push that will use about 20,000 billboards comes at a time when McDonald's, like some of its competitors, is stressing value-pricing. OTHER CHAINS MAY FOLLOW: Other chains may mimick the billboard campaign, says Ron Paul of restaurant industry consultant Technomic Inc. "McDonald's is a convenience food, and that message will get across better when someone is driving and more likely to be in the mood for fast-food than the would be sitting at home and watching TV," says Paul. "I wonder why it took McDonald's so long to realize it." (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM