WILL CONVERSE FIND A GOLDEN NUGGET IN NEW TV SPOT?

          Converse this week breaks its first TV spot showcasing
     its new brand theme "Stay True," according to Terry Lefton
     of BRANDWEEK.  The four-week, $2M campaign touts the $75
     Elevate sneaker and features "new, yet relatively unknown
     Converse endorser Bobby Jackson" of the Nuggets.  The
     campaign breaks January 15 "with spot buys in prime and
     fringe in Converse's 10 key markets."  In the ad, Jackson is
     shown dribbling to the hoop through a tunnel lined with the
     people who helped him get to the NBA (BRANDWEEK, 1/12).
          PASSION OR FASHION? BRANDWEEK's Becky Ebenkamp reviews
     Converse's new spot for its Chuck Taylor All-Star sneaker,
     featuring Dennis Rodman.  In the spot, Rodman says, "Passion
     is not a crime," and Ebenkamp writes, "one must wonder if
     Converse is at the end of its rope in trying to accentuate
     the positive about its court jester" (BRANDWEEK, 1/12).