Sponsors Signed For Martha's 'Apprentice'

Sure to make each episode as laborious as Trump's The Apprentice, Buick, Delta, Song, Random House, Westin Hotels and others have signed with Mark Burnett to be part of the new Apprentice: Martha Stewart. While the blatant intrusiveness of these full episode sponsorship may grate on the nerves, they bring in millions. The aggravation may be offset by Martha herself who, we venture to say, will be far more interesting than Trump.

Glamorous, High Cost TV Commercial Production to End

Sullivan Higdon & Sink VP Creative Director and one half of the American Copywriter podcast team John January has weighed in on the recent Project Wannamaker study by The PreTesting Company which found creative effectiveness burns out after two to three weeks on the air.

In response to a blog post by Business Week's David Kiley which, in part, predicted a trend towards increasing offshore commercial production, January wrote, "Outsourcing production to India? Come on, kids. We can figure this out. Can't we? All it takes is open minds. Open-minded creatives, open-minded producers, open-minded production partners. So simple in pixels. So not simple in real life. But we'd better get our collective heads around this."

Kiley also mentions one agency is exploring how MTV produces so many high quality promotions and videos at low cost and how media shops, with their number crunching efficiencies are about to take on the bloated world of advertising production. Forget weblogs. That shift, if it sees light of day, is something to seriously ponder.

Adrants Readers Invited to VMAs. Ad Age, AdWeek Not

Here's a fun promotion by NightAgency for the upcoming, Diddy-hosted Video Music Awards airing Sunday, August 28:

"Diddy and Adrants invite you to the biggest party ever. The dress code must be respected! You must wear your finest gear. You must get your hair done! So, Adrants readers, please do not invite the rest of your friends like AdAge & Adweek, this invite is for you only. You have been selected. It's an honor to be part of history in the making. This will go down as the greatest party of all time! So please respect and adhere to all above said rules."

Part of the promotional website allows yo to create a customized invite, indicating who you'd like to invite as well as who not to invite, to send to your friends. All in good fun.

Study Measures Ad Viewership, Campaign Duration Too Long

Perhaps forcing Nielsen to more quickly move its plans to measure commercial rather than programming, The PreTesting Company has is currently conducting a 2,500 Omaha home test of its MediaCheck Project Wannamaker (nice reference to the 50/50 statement), which measures ad viewership rather than program viewership, found most people tire of a campaign's commercials after just two weeks indicating overexposure and poor creative hurt TV campaigns the most. The study also found that DVR-equipped homes did not skip commercials any more than non-DVR (by changing channel, etc.) homes.

The company has plans to roll out a national, 50,000 home study and is is talks with cable operators to incorporate the measurement technology in set top boxes. Hello? Nielsen? Hello?

Emmys to Accost Passengers Inflight

In an attempt to stem sliding rating, the Emmy Awards organizers have signed a deal with United Airlines to show a 20 minute commercial on flight beginning September 1 to promote the September 18 broadcast. Last year's broadcast was viewed by 13.8 million, down from 17.9 million the previous year. Perhaps it's not the award show itself but rather most everything on TV sucks.

Ad Shot On Cell Phone Cam Dramatizes Teen Traffic Death

We received this last week and thought it was a joke (there was no tagline). Apparently, our viral radar was out of service. Turns out, it's an ad campaign in the UK for the Department of Transport bringing to light the fact traffic accidents are the biggest cause of accidental death for 12-16 year olds. The ad was created by Leo Burnett's Paul Hordan and Angus Macadam and shot by kids on cell phone cameras. After circulating last week online, it aired on television over the weekend. Dramatic stuff.

'Six Feet Under' Delivers Brilliant, Bittersweet Ending

Tonight, HBO's Six Feet Under concluded its five year run ending its final season with a finale full of multiple closures wonderfully befitting the series. Series creator Alan Ball delivered an emotionally powerful finale to a season that began quite plainly and, for a time, seemed headed towards undramatic plainness. That all changed several weeks ago with the sudden death of one of the main characters in an episode which, on its own, would have made a fitting finale but Ball pressed on, raised the bar and, in a nod to life's inevitable finality, brought Six Feet Under to its death slowly, beautifully, hauntingly, painfully and eloquently. The series will be missed.

UPDATE: The intensely moving song which played during the final scene of the show is called "Breathe Me" by Sia and is available over at Stereogum.

CBS's NFL Today Promoted With Pixel People

To promote the new season of CBS Sports' The NFL Today show, Concrete Pictures has created "The Pixel People," a campaign which features a bunch of animated characters in supposedly funny, off-the-wall skits. "The Pixel People" consist of "The Blimp Dudes," voiced by Two and a Half Men's Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, "Footballhead Guy," "The Hippie Chick," "The Yuppie Lady," "The Cheerleader" and "The Football Family." The campaign will air throughout August and September with :10's, :20's and :30's. Spots can be viewed here.

Very Pink Hotties Provide Football Fantasy

We received these spots from a very kind and very knowledgeable public relations professional who knew we simply couldn't resist sharing them with you. The spots are part of a Wieden + Kennedy created campaign promoting ESPN's Fantasy Football. Leveraging every man's fantasy in which the perfect football team would be a bunch of hotties dressed in sexy pink outfits frolicking on a very pink bed in a very pink room, the spots certainly grab attention but not in a purely T&A fashion. You see, the models in the fantasy are in on the joke and know they are just pawns in the mind of a daydreaming football fan. Well done.

Peter Jennings Has Died

Long time ABC news anchor Peter Jennings, 67, has lost his battle with lung cancer and died last night in Manhattan.