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, May 8 1992 Date: Fri, 8 May 92 05:31:37 EDT Message-ID: 05-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update May 8-10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BEEF ADS TEMPT TASTE BUDS: The latest serving of ads from the Beef Industry Council - designed to combat falling beef consumption - doesn't mention nutrition, pro or con. They just try to make consumers hungry for some red meat. Previous campaigns for beef have focused on famous faces - James Garner, Cybill Shepherd, Larry Bird - and out-of-the way places, like the oddly-named towns of last year's ads. (For more, see special Beef package below.) PHONE CARRIERS BATTLE IN ADS: The ad industry is benefiting from the battle among long-distance carriers. The costs for television commercials, billboards and magazine and newspaper ads for MCI, Sprint and AT&T could balloon to a combined $750 million this year. That would be 35% more than the $553 million advertising tracker LNA:Arbitron Multi Media Service says they spent last year. FIRMS PARODY OTHER FIRMS' ADS: The scenario among AT&T, MCI and Sprint has been going something like this recently: One company announces something new, the others counter with something similar. Ads contain plenty of backbiting. "Most of it is classic back-and-forth product parodying," says Terry Lefton of Marketing Week. "It's tough to differentiate yourself from the competition." RUFFLES, LAY'S GET NEW ADS: In the new first ad for Lay's potato chips in a decade, Larry Bird makes the perennial bet with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: That he can eat just one Lay's potato chip. He loses. The ad begins Monday. In new Ruffles' ads, characters give wild excuses not to share their bag of chips. The ads scrap the 27-year-old "Ruffles have ridges" slogan for the line, "Get your own bag." FOX NETWORK TO GO TO SIX NIGHTS: The Fox Network will expand to six nights of programming a week July 1 with the debut of "Beverly Hills, 90210" spin-off "Melrose Place" on Wednesdays. Fox hopes to expand to seven nights by January 1993. Fox also plans to air new summer episodes of "90210" and "Parker Lewis Can't Lose." ARBY'S OFFERS `GREAT ESCAPE': Arby's is wooing customers with a summer "Great Escape from Boring Burgers" promotion. Grand prize is a trip to any Arby's location. TV ads make fun of rubber-stamp burger chains and carry the slogan "Different is good." "Everybody likes to think they have a little bit of (rebelliousness) in them," says Tom Grant, senior vice president of marketing. EL NUEVO BECOMING PROFITABLE: El Nuevo Herald, the five-year-old Spanish-language edition of The Miami Herald, will be profitable this year, says Anthony Ridder, president of Knight-Ridder and its newspaper division. El Nuevo Herald is delivered with The Herald to subscribers who pay five cents extra daily. Circulation is about 95,000 daily, 115,000 Sundays. THAI FOOD PICKS UP MARKET: New Thai offerings are pulling retail sales of Oriental food out of a slump, according to a recent Advertising Age. Frank Landrey of Andre Prost Inc., an importer of Thai seasonings, sauces and mixes, says he thinks Americans will favor the new Oriental taste. "We're targeting the health-counscious ... yuppie who is desperately looking for a new way to serve chicken," he says. SPORTS' RATINGS TAKE DIVE: TV ratings for sports slumped last weekend. NBC got a 5.6 for Detroit-New York and 5.3 for Portland-Los Angeles Lakers. That compares to a 7.7 and a 7.0 rating in the same time slots last year. ABC's 8.9 Kentucky Derby rating was up 7% from last year, but last year was the lowest-rated Derby ever. ABC's World League football game Sunday got a 1.1, the league's lowest rating ever. OLYMPIC AD TIME IS AVAILABLE: NBC is faced with numerous hurdles as it prepares to air the Summer Olympics. Advertising may end up being the biggest problem. Twenty percent of the ad time is unsold. NBC is also faced with the potential of its pay-per-view coverage losing $150 million. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BEEF: HEALTH NOT MADE AN ISSUE: The Beef Industry Council's latest campaign, the first from ad agency Leo Burnett, casts the food as the hero. It features kebabs, stir-fry and steaks in glorious close-up color. There's even a shot of - such extravagance - red wine being poured. In consumer research, "the health issue did not come up much at all," says Monica Eorgoff, advertising director for the beef council. BEFF SEEN AS `STODGY': Eorgoff said many consumers perceive beef as something that takes too long to cook. "They still perceive beef as kind of stodgy, burgers and steak that take a long time to prepare." So the new advertisements show unusual beefy dishes such as sirloin citrus salad that take less than half an hour to prepare. CAMPAIGN TO COST $42 MILLION: The tagline for the $42 million Beef Industry Council campaign is "Beef. It's what's for dinner." In one of the ads, Robert Mitchum is heard saying, "nothing satisfies so many people in so many ways." At the same time, Aaron Copland's "Rodeo" provides a stirring soundtrack. (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