IRON MAN RIPKEN GAINING NATIONAL EXPOSURE WITH FRANKLIN ADS

     Ads for Franklin Sports featuring Cal Ripken and Barry
Bonds, which began running recently on ESPN, are giving Ripken
"some rare national commercial exposure as he begins his drive"
to break Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record.  Ripken, who has
"often appeared in local commercials," has been "seldom seen in
national" ads.  But his representatives said endorsement
opportunities for the All-Star shortstop "have risen as he nears
the record."  Today, pro basketball players are the "athletes of
choice" in national ads, and talent agencies blame the recent
baseball strike and the game's "languid pace" that "alienates
many younger viewers."  Franklin and its ad agency, Arnold
Fortuna Lawner & Cabot Inc. of Boston said the Ripken/Bonds ad
will run through May (Skip Wollenberg, AP/SAN FRANCISCO
CHRONICLE, 5/3).