'CRYSTAL' CAMPAIGN FOCUSES ON METH HORRORS

It's a problem that won't go away, especially in the urban gay community.
We're talking about crystal meth use and abuse. The highly addictive and
devastating drug has wreaked havoc among thousands of gay men for whom
crystal meth functions as something like a sexual aphrodisiac.

Two Chicago agencies, Lapiz Integrated Hispanic Marketing and Starcom USA,
have launched a major Chicago-focused public service ad campaign with the
tagline "Crystal Breaks" to educate the gay population about the dangers of
crystal meth use and addiction. Alberto Senior, a senior account executive
at Lapiz, and Chris Boothe, group client leader at Starcom, oversaw the
campaign development. Both men also are members of the Chicago Crystal Meth
Task Force.

The campaign launch event took place Saturday on a concert stage at the
popular annual North Halsted Market Days Festival, where recovering crystal
meth users appeared with hammers and dramatically shattered an
eight-foot-tall glass sculpture with an image of two men embracing. As the
sculpture was demolished, banners with the "Crystal Breaks" tag, as well as
details about the dangers of meth use, were unfurled around the stage.

The "Crystal Breaks" message was further disseminated on bathroom mirror
covers and bar coasters at Halsted Street gay bars, and branded water
bottles were passed out to market days visitors.

Mobile billboard ads displaying the "shattered" faces of men circulated on
streets near the market days event.

A Web site, www.crystalbreaks.org, was scheduled to launch by this morning.

Ad industry takes it on the chin

The first ever Advertising Week, a week-long celebration of advertising and
the ad industry, took place last September in New York City. Not
surprisingly, the ad industry judged the self-congratulatory event a huge
success, and decided to do it again this year.

Advertising Week 2005, scheduled for Sept. 26-30, will include a procession
of great ad icons and various exhibitions and talks about what makes
advertising something worth celebrating.

With the actual celebration still weeks away, the ad industry already has
managed to demonstrate why a lot of the public find it hard to celebrate so
much of what passes for advertising today. Late last month, DDB/New York
unveiled a print ad it created to promote Advertising Week. The image spoke
volumes about a certain kind of "creative" mentality that is dragging down
the ad industry in the 21st century faster than it can prop itself up.

The ad presents a close-up shot of an especially buxom woman's cleavage
with the single copy line: "Advertising: We All Do It." While it might not
be quite so distasteful as the farting horse in a Bud Light 2004 Super Bowl
ad, the Advertising Week 2005 ad relies on easy, cheap, sexist humor.

Ever since the ad's unveiling, Advertising Week execs understandably have
tried to shift the focus from that ad back to other aspects of the upcoming
celebration, claiming there was no need for further discussion. But the
damage was already done.

Of course, it's entirely possible DDB created the tasteless cleavage ad,
hoping it would spark controversy. While controversy might make for
attention-grabbing headlines, in this instance the Advertising Week ad has
produced the kind of headlines and controversy that will do nothing to
improve the advertising industry's image.

In the end, none of the 15 adventurous souls who began the 70-hour
car-touching marathon at Leo Burnett last week lasted the full 70 hours.
But Dave Burg, a junior planner who had been at Burnett only four months,
did last 61.5 hours, and he was ruled the winner of the contest, part of
Burnett's 70th anniversary celebration.

For managing to stay awake and keep his hand on the 2006 Cadillac CTS
longer than any other contestant, Burg will get to tool around in the Caddy
for the next two years. We tried to reach Burg Friday for an interview, but
were unsuccessful. Maybe he fell sleep?

Busy Lovie makes time for 'On Demand'

Lovie Smith isn't what we'd call the most animated of personalities.
Certainly nothing like a Mike Ditka. But Smith does project a sort of
gentleness -- a trait that would seem at odds with what's required to whip
guys into shape to do battle on the gridiron.

Still there he is on the little screen as the newest Comcast Cable
spokesman in a 30-second commercial debuting today. The spot from Brogan &
Partners/Detroit is designed to promote Comcast's new "On Demand" option,
which allows subscribers to its digital cable service to watch any of some
1,000 movies and shows whenever they wish during a given 24-hour period. In
the new spot, Smith demonstrates how "On Demand" works by orchestrating how
a Gatorade dousing event involving a referee plays out.

"On Demand" is aimed at busy people who want to do things on their own
schedule. Smith was supposedly selected for the new ad campaign because he
is one such busy person with a high profile. The Bears coach does an OK, if
not exactly compelling, job reading his copy. And he smiles nicely, too.

Ad Notes

*Arc Worldwide/Chicago CEO Nick Brien is exiting to return to the media
world as CEO of Universal McCann, a media unit of the Interpublic Group.
Arc President Marc Landsberg will assume Brien's responsibilities,
effectively immediately, an Arc spokeswoman said.

*Dan Richlen has been promoted to vice president, account director of event
marketing at Wunderman/Chicago. Richlen has managed sponsorships and
promotions for a number of blue-chip clients, including Anheuser-Busch,
Citibank, Coca-Cola and Northwest Airlines.

*Jay Kelly and his Off Loop PR firm have picked up the Emerald City Theatre
Co., a family-oriented troupe, as a client.

*The strip of Erie Street outside the Foote Cone & Belding/Chicago building
has been rechristened "Fairfax Cone Way" in honor of the advertising
agency's legendary leader.

*White Hen Pantry this week opens its "store of the future" at 45 E.
Chicago. The new store includes a fountain drink station with 16 different
drinks and a barista station for espresso, cafe latte and cappuccino
drinks, as well as an aisle of organic and natural foods.

*Imagination/Chicago has hired Christian Campos and Tiffany Mehnert as art
directors working on publications in the consumer, association and
technology business units. Campos, 40, previously was an art director at
Sears Roebuck and Co.. Mehnert, 28, previously was a designer and
production manager at Duffy Design Works in Oak Brook.

*Santiago Ruiz, previously with Al Punto Advertising, has joined the
technology team at Manifest Digital/Chicago. Ruiz brings Hispanic market
capabilities to Manifest Digital's range of offerings.

*Jamba Juice will unveil two new breakfast drinks, an Acai Eye-Opener and a
Matcha Momentum, on Aug. 18.