Champion Products reduced the list of agencies for its
estimated $10M account to Grey Advertising, TBWA Chiat/Day and
Lowe & Partners/SMS (ADWEEK, 7/22 issue)....Taco Bell made its
debut with VISA PacWest Racing in Toronto with a logo on Mark
Blundell's car (NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS, 7/24)....Northwest Air
will sponsor its DreamPerks Auction September 27 at Sotheby's.
Participants will use frequent flyer miles to bid on such items
as: a golf lesson from British Open Champ Tom Lehman; the chance
to play with the Harlem Globetrotters; and a chance to travel
with the Lions to an away game (Shandwick USA)....Despite Quaker
Oats sales being down for the second quarter by $1.48M over last
year, company CEO William Smithburg did note "strong growth in
North American Gatorade" over the period (AD AGE, 7/26)....NFL
Properties and Sears will join to allow kids to sign up for the
NFL Gatorade Punt, Pass & Kick competition. Children will be
able to sign up for the event at Sears where there will be a
integrated program designed to attract participants and increase
sales of NFL licensed merchandise. It will also entail a
sweepstakes and gift-with-purchase. Sign up for the program is
from July 28 to September 28 (NFL)....Top fuel drag racer Blaine
Johnson has the points lead going into this weekend's NHRA
Autolite Nationals, but he has no sponsor. Of the top 10 racers,
he is the only unsponsored team. Johnson puts the price for a
full sponsorship at $1-$1.5M (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/25).
