ESPN PULLS QUESTIONABLE NHL PRINT AD AFTER COMPLAINTS

          A national print ad for ESPN's NHL coverage that
     labeled the league as the "Adopted Child" compared to the
     NBA, NFL and MLB, played on the "antiquated, insensitive
     notion that adopted children aren't loved nearly as much as
     children raised by their biological parents," according to
     Phil Mushnick of the N.Y. POST.  ESPN "naturally" received
     complaints from both adoptive parents and grown adopted
     children and now "acknowledges that the ads, intended to
     boost the NHL as an underdog, were in poor taste."  An ESPN
     spokesperson said that the ad was "pulled after a one-day
     run."  Mushnick: "Still, ESPN's not likely to change its
     overall marketing approach.  Its smarmy, wise-guy treatment
     of sports will continue" (N.Y. POST, 10/22).  The full-page
     ad ran in the N.Y. Times on Friday, October, 1, and marked
     the league's season opener.  It read, "It is the wild,
     adopted child of the four major sports" (THE DAILY).