Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads,americast.usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Mon, Oct 19 1992 Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 04:38:13 EDT Message-ID: 10-19 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Oct. 19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ADS PROMOTE THE VOTE: As Election Day draws closer, advertisers are selling a new product - voting. "If you've got something to say, now's the time to get it off your chest," say TV ads beginning Monday from Maidenform. The ads feature Maidenform's trademark torso shots of women wearing a spectrum of political buttons from "I Believe Anita" to "Right to Life." (For more, see special Vote package below.) ADS ALLEGE SEXUAL ASSAULT: Hawaii Democrat Daniel Inouye was the focus of ads run by Republican challenger Rick Reed Friday - then canceled Saturday. The TV ads accused Inouye of sexually assaulting his hair stylist 17 years ago. Reed said he pulled the ads after the stylist threatened to sue. The ads included parts of a conversation with the stylist, secretly taped by a former Reed campaign worker. ADS LEAVE OUT INFORMATION: While TV viewers wonder when those enigmatic ads for the Nissan Altima are going to reveal how much the car costs, Volvo is showing mysterious ads of its own. In ads for its new 850 GLT sedan, Volvo shows only the front grille of the car - then turns on the headlights to obscure even that. Nissan ads show off the Altima in detail, but don't give much information. ADS ARE MEANT TO INTRIGUE: New TV ads for cars - for Nissan and Volvo - tease the viewer by holding back information. The hook: Advertisers hope viewers will be sufficiently intrigued to stay tuned - or even to drive to a dealership to find out more. TV ads for autos are designed to get the car on buyers' shopping lists, not close the deal. These ambiguous ads began with 1989's introduction of Nissan's Infinti. AIRLINES MAY HAVE TO AMEND ADS: Under proposed legislation, airlines would have to state the number of seats available when advertising discount fares. For example, one international carrier advertised a fare to Europe that actually was available only once during the 20-day period monitored. Other discount fares average only five seats per flight. MARLBORO WANTS A FEW GOOD MEN: Philip Morris is giving smokers a chance to play Marlboro Man. In a promotion unveiled in current magazines, readers are invited to apply for the Marlboro Adventure Team. Ten people will take an 11-day trip to Colorado next fall that will include 600 miles of horseback riding, whitewater rafting, dirt biking and off-road driving. Applicants must fill out a form and write an essay. GROUP HATES NEW SEASON: According to A.C. Nielsen ratings, three new shows have become Top 20 hits: CBS' "Hearts Afire" and "Love & War" and ABC's "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper." But according to the 2,000 members of Viewers For Quality Television - serious TV fans who champion adventuresome fare - the new season stinks. Members say some new shows, such as "Going To Extremes," are big disappointments. RUMORS PLACE NBC UP FOR SALE: Periodically, there are reports that NBC, owned by General Electric, is on the verge of being sold. And each time the network doesn't comment. So far, nothing has happened, but Friday's Los Angeles Times reported that Paramount - long rumored to buy NBC - and former Fox chief Barry Diller are angling separately to take it over. Once again, none of the sides would comment. THREE AD FIRMS MERGE: Biggs:Gilmore Communications is merging with two other Grand Rapids, Mich., advertising agencies. Biggs:Gilmore will purchase selected assets of Markey & Associates and Nordstrom:Cox Marketing has joined with the Biggs:Gilmore group. Markey & Associates is Biggs:Gilmore's third acquisition in the Grand Rapids market. COMSTREAM TO SERVICE KMART: ComStream said Friday it is supplying a digital audio broadcast network for Kmart Corp. ComStream audio equipment will carry music and advertising to more than 2,300 Kmart stores nationwide via satellite. All of the U.S. Kmart stores will have the network prior to the Christmas shopping season, ComStream said. It allows Kmart to insert national, regional or store-specific ads. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON VOTE: BUTTONS FEATURE WOMEN'S RACES: New Maidenform TV ads show women's torsos adorned with political buttons. Though determinedly bipartisan, the buttons feature races, such as Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter-Lynn Yeakel senatorial contest, that have given this political season the tag "Year of the Woman." The ads will run on news shows and during prime-time hits such as, appropriately enough, "Murphy Brown." MEMBERS ONLY REPEATS CAMPAIGN: Maidenform will spend $1.5 million to run the voting ad through Nov. 3. Men's clothier Members Only is repeating a campaign it ran in 1988. One ad shows immigrants and Nazi concentration camps, telling viewers to vote "for all the people who didn't make it." A new ad tells kids younger than 18 to urge their parents to vote. "It's your future they're talking about," says the ad. WOMEN ARE URGED TO VOTE: A group of female advertising executives has created public-service ads pushing women to cast "the deciding vote." Getting out the vote is hardly a controversial stance for a company to take. And putting marketing money behind the ads is good business, says Allen Kay of Korey Kay & Partners, which created the Members Only campaign. She says the ads will raise the company's profile. (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Martin Baucom. (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