TV campaigns creating some controversy during the Summer Games

Article Abstract:

NBC will run one controversial ad and it drops another during the network's TV coverage of the Sydney Summer Games. NBC will air ads from the Truth campaign, backed by the American Legacy Foundation, which in turn is funded by the tobacco case settlement. The ads show black body bags, representing deaths from smoking, piling up in front of the Philip Morris headquarters building in Manhattan. The broadcaster decided to pull Nike ads that showed runner Suzy Hamilton pursued by a figure brandishing a chainsaw. The ad was intended as a parody, but many viewers objected to the display of violence against a woman, even though Ms. Hamilton does emerge victorious and unscathed in the end.

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Nike makes a commercial that resembles a music video, and hopes it is viewed as such

Article Abstract:

A new and longer version of a Wieden & Kennedy TV commercial for Nike basketball shoes will start airing on MTV. The original commercial, called Freestyle, ran during the N.B.A. All-Star Game and won acclaim for director Paul Hunter's scenes of basketball players set to a music soundtrack. The positive response to the ad inspired the ad firm to make a longer version that would air on TV channels that play music videos. The commercial resembles a music video, runs 2 and a half minutes, and succeeds in camouflaging marketing as content, which keeps viewers from switching channels, as they tend to do when they recognize that a product is being pitched to them.

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Television networks wonder how much lower prices for commercial time could go

Article Abstract:

An annual survey finds that prices for TV commercials declined by 15 to 20 percent, on average, in the 2001-2002 season, as a result of the weaker economy and reduced demand. The terrorist attacks on the U.S. have raised questions about program content, which may cause ad agencies to reconsider their media campaigns, since advertisers may not want to be associated with certain content in the wake of the tragedies.

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