Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Digest

On the air

By TIMES WIRES
Published October 6, 2006

BIZ TIDBITS FROM AND ABOUT TELEVISION AND RADIO

GM goes bold by pairing with Sean Hannity

Radio talk show host Sean Hannity is the voice in a GM car giveaway. General Motors is giving away cars and getting some grief in return. In what it calls the "You're a Great American Car Giveaway," GM is awarding five free cars a week through Nov. 6. But it has hired as the star of the promotion someone many Americans do not consider great: Sean Hannity, the conservative Fox News radio and television host. Hannity, known for comments like comparing a vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton to support for Hamas or Hezbollah, is announcing the winners of the contest on his radio show - only people who are listening for their name can win. GM officials made some attempts to distance themselves from Hannity, saying the company did not endorse his political views and that he did not speak on behalf of GM. They said the promotion merely used Hannity's daily radio program as a platform to reach a broad range of listeners as the show is broadcast on more than 500 stations and heard by 13-million people. Tom Wilkinson of GM said the company always considered the potential negatives of a marketing strategy but that effective advertising was often controversial. "If you only did advertising and marketing in venues that would offend nobody, most companies would be out of business in a couple of quarters," Wilkinson said.

Tiger Woods might be the best, but ads can be better

In golf and in business, instructors often say that if it's not broken, don't fix it. Just tweak it a little. That's what management and technology consulting firm Accenture Ltd. has done in its latest advertising and marketing campaign that again features the world's top golfer, Tiger Woods. The old slogan: "Go on. Be a Tiger." The new one, touting its research on "high-performance" businesses: "We know what it takes to be a Tiger." The ads compare Woods' ability on the golf course to the traits of leading businesses, from foresight and preparation to flexibility based on changing circumstances. The concept came from a three-year research program which analyzed thousands of companies worldwide to find the traits of high-performing companies, said James Murphy, the company's chief marketing and communications officer.

Late-night yuk-yuks

JAY LENO: "Al Gore spoke to the U.N. last week about global warming. The former Vice President Gore said cigarette smoking is a major factor in global warming. Unfortunately, as soon as Al Gore started speaking, most of them went outside for a smoke."

JAY LENO: "This (Rep. Mark Foley) incident is changing the way big companies do business in Washington - like tobacco companies are now hiring underage boys as lobbyists because they know that's the best way to reach congressmen."

On 'Mad Money'

6 p.m./9 p.m./midnight MOST WEEKDAYS, CNBC

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARNA): The drugmaker could be the next Myogen Inc., which is being acquired by Gilead Sciences Inc., because Arena has "similarly high product" in the works, including a weight-loss drug, known as lorcaserin, Cramer said. The market for weight loss drugs will break through the "$2-billion market by 2010, not because obesity is unhealthy, but because people desperately want to look good," Cramer said.

[Last modified October 6, 2006, 00:54:04]