In his article “BJA makes army a prime target” (MW December 9), Chris Boulding describes a study on the armed forces carried out by BJ Associates. The aim of the study is to assess the susceptibility to advertising of officers leaving the armed forces and to suggest mediums by which firms can exploit this potential […]

Muhammed Ali is the latest contender to throw a knock-out punch at Saatchi & Saatchi. The sports shoe business Aero US, in which Ali has a majority holding, has dropped Saatchi subsidiary Wavelength Creative Marketing from its UK business. It originally linked up with the company to plan its sales and distribution in the UK. […]

If you think you live in a free country, try eating two chocolate bars in one day, or watching ads for shower gel. The monomaniacs are hounding us once again

Sainsbury’s is to launch a massive consumer promotion next week to mark the end of its 125th year, supported by £1m of television and press advertising, amid fears of a new supermarket price war. The month-long promotion will offer £1m of prizes, including 125 cars and 125 holidays, and special price reductions on selected products. […]

Benetton has been fined $32,000 (ú21,000) by a French court for causing offence to people with HIV and Aids, with its controversial advertising.

With reference to the article “Turning the Cables” (MW, January 27) I felt it important to clarify the role of the CCN Group, and particularly its Mosaic Systems product, within the cable industry. Firstly, the article’s author is quite right in identifying the primary use of Mosaic as the prioritisation of areas for building and […]

The days of the corner shop may be numbered, but in the countryside supermarkets often find it hard to compete against locally grown produce.

Banks Hoggins O’Shea is understood to have won the ú4m United Friendly Assurance account. BHO refuses to comment but industry sources say the agency has been picked to handle United’s largest advertising campaign to date.

Publishers are threatening to take legal action against Asda if it continues to violate the Net Book Agreement by discounting books in its supermarkets. The publishers, whose titles Asda has been selling at a £1 discount, are Transworld, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Harper Collins, Pan, Little Brown and Arrow Paperbacks. It is understood that they […]

Sales promotion consultancy IMP is understood to be battling to save its Pizza Hut business, after Burger King awarded its ú23m pan-European through-the-line account to IMP and its parent D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles jointly. Industry sources say Burger King chose the DMB&B/IMP combination over rivals Saatchi & Saatchi and SP Lintas because of the […]

Pornography, perhaps more than any other business, has benefited from the opportunities presented by emerging technologies and media fragmentation. Yet the recent fortunes of Penthouse magazine might lead one to believe the UK porn market is in decline. Penthouse is struggling to boost its circulation and so hold on to its franchise in the UK. […]

Hackers can now break into previously secure systems on the Internet and could use Barclaycard’s new interactive electronic magazine to reach confidential information on the magazine’s users as well as business data used by Barclays Bank. They can subvert a defensive system called a “firewall”, which is designed to keep out hackers by distinguishing between […]

On the surface, being sold to finance and make way for ú440m of Quaker petfood in Europe would seem unflattering for most companies.

The licensing deal of the year? Probably not. But it is likely to be one of the most keenly awaited product launches of recent months – Baywatch Sunguard. This is a suncare range for those who believe they look like either the bronzed babe Pamela Anderson (who appears in some point-of-sale material for the cream […]

BSkyB has announced pre-tax profits up 46 per cent to ú55m (ú37.8m) in the half-year to December 31. Turnover was up 48 per cent to ú356.