PETE ROSE'S PAST JUST TOO HOT TO HANDLE FOR PIZZA HUT EXECS

     Pete Rose, who was scheduled to begin filming a commercial
for PepsiCo's Pizza Hut, was dropped by the company as they
"pulled the plug on the project," writes Kevin Goldman in this
morning's WALL STREET JOURNAL.  The decision not to go with the
Rose ad followed a meeting of Pizza Hut execs on Wednesday.  The
"highly unusual move" came despite a letter of intent with Rose
and "elaborate preparations" by the company's ad agency, Omnicom
Group's, BBDO New York.  Goldman reports that "people with
knowledge of the situation" believe that Pizza Hut execs "got
cold feet at the last minute" because of Rose's "troubled past,"
while others say that the company was upset because word of the
ad "leaked out" a month before it was scheduled to run (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 6/16).