Q&As

Call it a case of bookends and bupkus: Super Bowl Sunday’s two purest direct marketing television ads — those actively engaged in selling a featured product — ran right before and right after the game. But the ads shown during the Super Bowl’s four-plus hours left something to be desired, both from a DM and, in some cases, branding perspective.

The Senate’s unanimously passed postal reform bill S. 662 Thursday morning.

The bill seeks to fundamentally remake the USPS for the first time since it came into being in 1970. It calls for:
* Having the USPS offer market-competitive products.
* Establishing a new more powerful Postal Regulatory Board to replace the current Postal Rate Commission.
* Reworking some of the USPS’s arrangements with its employees and labor unions.

The Direct Marketing Association did not join an effort supporting a lawsuit against Utah

Pizza Hut breaks new ground today with a national radio promotion and sampling blitz.

Coca-Cola has signed former Olympic gold medalist and speedskater Bonnie Blair as its newest spokesperson to kick off its 2006 Live It! program to help encourage more schools to sign up for the initiative.

Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim is partnering with Burger King Corp. to launch a new sweepstakes that dangles a grand prize to program an entire night of shows on Adult Swim.

Showtime Networks is extending viewership of its hit show The L Word with a new competition inviting viewers to write original scenes for the series.

McDonald’s is out with a new addition to its menu, the Spicy Premium Chicken Sandwich, and is giving consumers a chance to sample the product.

For the first time, Best Western International is rolling out its popular travel card in retail stores.

Kids Footlocker is dangling a gift with purchase to boost awareness of the Viewtiful Joe animated series and drive in-store purchases.