WHITE HOUSE DRUG AGENCY SCORES LAST-MINUTE SUPER BOWL AD DEAL

Who bought some of the last advertising spots to be sold for this Sunday's
Super Bowl? You did.

But American taxpayers also got a great deal, thanks to the current ad
recession.

During the final moments of its efforts to pull in advertisers for this
weekend's game, News Corp.'s Fox made some unusual concessions to buyers,
including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

In a deal struck late last week with the antidrug agency, Fox agreed to
broadcast two new commercials for a major government antidrug campaign
linking the rise in terrorism to illegal drug use. Congress mandates that
media outlets that take paid advertising from this particular agency are
required to cover at least half of the cost of the effort with a so-called
media match.

The upshot: The taxpayer-funded agency, which has agreed to spend close to
$3 million for a total of 60 seconds of commercial time, will get free
matching spots of equivalent value at another time -- though not during the
Big Game. In other words, it will enjoy some of Madison Avenue's most
expensive advertising time for half price.

The arrangement illustrates in part how dire the advertising recession has
become for Fox and other broadcasters. Rather than agreeing to air the
antidrug spots during the Super Bowl, Fox could have continued to search
for other buyers willing to pay full freight. But with such buyers in short
supply, the network is increasingly offering good things to those who waited.

On Wednesday, Tricon Global Restaurants Inc.'s Taco Bell doubled its
planned advertising on the game, agreeing to buy two 30-second ads, rather
than only one, at prices estimated at less than $2 million each for the two
spots. But Fox said Taco Bell will also enjoy a special perk via a
marketing moment on TV that Fox intends to dub the "Taco Bell Play of the
Game."

And the Blockbuster video-rental unit of Viacom Inc. is one of the most
recent buyers of Super Bowl ad time. Although Blockbuster declines to break
out its costs, those familiar with the transaction believe that it paid
roughly $1.5 million for a 30-second commercial, not including the 15%
agency commission. Last year, advertisers paid roughly $2 million for 30
seconds of Super Bowl commercial time on average, according to agency
estimates.

Jim Notarnicola, chief marketing officer, Blockbuster Video, said the
company's spot will run toward the end of the game's third quarter. "It was
an opportunistic buy," he said. "We closed the deal this week. We got a
good value for the spot."

Meantime, Mars Inc. Tuesday signed up to make M&M's, the chocolate covered
candy, a last-minute addition to the big game. A company spokeswoman said
she didn't know how much Mars paid for the airtime. The 30-second M&M's
commercial will appear in the fourth quarter. The company also is getting
enhancements in other sports programming.

Jon Nesvig, head of ad sales for Fox Broadcasting, said the network is
trying to keep from sharply lowering its asking price for commercial time.
Because of the economy, many advertisers have been hesitant to purchase ads
on the game. So Mr. Nesvig and other sales executives at Fox have been
brainstorming new ways to please advertisers who otherwise might not shell
out more than six figures for commercial time.

The network's main strategy, Mr. Nesvig said, has been offering
"enhancements" to advertisers willing to pay Fox's asking price of around
$1.9 million for thirty seconds. The extras come prior to the kickoff and
after the gun at the game's end. "Extra billboards, special positioning,
we'll do them," he adds. "In a game like this, it's positioning. We're
using all the resources we have."

This includes taking the ads from the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy. The antidrug agency typically spends about $160 million a
year to broadcast its ads, which show kids drawing and doing activities
other than taking drugs, or objecting to a parent's attempt to hold them
accountable for possible drug use. Its new effort is expected to link drugs
to terrorism and is likely to represent the biggest single advertising deal
for a government entity.

The intent of the pro bono match program with the media is to preserve the
model traditionally used with public-service advertising, which typically
costs nothing -- although timing of when these ads air is up to the media.
To ensure play during the Super Bowl, the White House agency had to
actually buy time.

A spokesman for Fox said the network agreed to broadcast the ad because the
antidrug effort is "a good cause and we believe in it."

The antidrug agency deal to advertise on the Super Bowl represents a major
coup for WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, the advertising agency that
negotiated the deal. Last year, Ogilvy was accused by the government of
overbilling the antidrug account. The agency's contract with the government
is up for review, despite this latest deal.

- -- Suzanne Vranica contributed to this article

Ad Notes . . .

Sony consolidates its $600 million North American media-buying duties with
Universal McCann.

After an eight-month review, Sony Corp. of America tapped Interpublic
Group's Universal McCann to handle its media planning and buying work. The
deal excluded media chores for Sony Computer Entertainment America, which
remain at Omnicom Group's OMD.

Universal, which for the past 14 years has handled Sony Pictures
Entertainment, picks up responsibility for Sony Electronics, which was
handled by WPP Group's Media Edge; Sony Music Entertainment, previously
done by WPP's Wunderman Cato Johnson; and Sony of Canada, which was done by
Toronto-based Due North.

The consolidation "allows us to better coordinate messaging across all
three companies," says Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive of
Sony Corp. of America. Mr. Stringer notes that Universal was selected
because its buying power would give Sony leverage in the media marketplace.