Blue Light Special On Sheryl Crow Jeans

Perhaps the plethora of new celebrity inspired apparel at retailers across the country is attributable to the success of Steve & Barry's celebrity lines?


This back-to-school season will go down as the Battle of the Brands.

Kohl's launched six new lines of clothing this summer with a star-studded advertising campaign featuring celebrities from Lenny Kravitz to Hayden Panettiere. JCPenney introduced another half-dozen labels, the department store's biggest crop of new brands, with looks including urban rock and all-American. And Dillard's is chasing soccer moms with a line designed by Sheryl Crow that hit stores this month.

Ownership + Energy = Lance Armstrong's Drink Deal

GEICO Caveman Bagels Billie Jean King

The Geico Cavemen failed in their hopes of becoming TV stars, as ABC called off a series based on their adventures last fall. But the story of these misunderstood characters lives on in a pair of 30-second broadcast spots for Geico, via The Martin Agency, breaking this week.

In one TV spot, "Plane Banner," a caveman and his girlfriend—played by model and one-time Lindsay Lohan pal Lauren Hastings—plop down their umbrella and blankets on a secluded beach. "Boy, I really needed this," the caveman says as he prepares to sprawl out. Then a small plane flies over the beach with a trailing banner featuring the famous Geico ad with copy: "Saving hundreds so easy . . ." The copy alludes to older ads, which state that saving on insurance with Geico is so easy that a caveman could do it. The caveman looks disconsolately at the banner and says, "I'll be in the car."

Another spot features former tennis star Billie Jean King at a tournament in which her foe is a caveman. After a round, the two report to their respective chairs and the caveman says, "I can't believe I'm beating Billie Jean King." "You're not beating me," King replies. "In fact, you haven't even got a serve in." "You might want to take a gander at the scoreboard," the caveman says. Both look at the board, which shows he has yet to score a point. The caveman looks around the arena and realizes Geico is sponsoring the entire event. "I get it," he says with a smile to contain his anger, as he gets up to leave the court. "I quit, but I get it."

"With this new round of cavemen work, we were really trying to stick to the same formula that worked so well in the past: Geico, intentionally or not, dinging cavemen," Todd Brusnighan, senior copywriter at The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., said in a statement. "We wanted to remind viewers that our cavemen are still out there and their struggles are still very much happening everyday."

There is no Web element to the new campaign, but a Martin Agency rep said the ads "will be on every television network and every cable network" for the next 21 months. The spots will also run during the Olympics. Some reports have said that two more cavemen ads are in production and will be released shortly, but the agency's rep declined to comment on the reports.

Geico's cavemen ads began running in 2004 and have gained pop icon status over the years. Geico spent $600 million on U.S. ads last year (excluding online) and $240 million through May, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Newman! Nope, It's Seinfeld Who Gets Tabbed as Microsoft's New Pitchman

Jerry Seinfeld will receive a reported $10 million to appear in Microsoft's new ad campaign for its Vista operating system.

The budget for the campaign is reportedly $300 million.

NPH Nabs Old Spice Deal

Old Spice has signed openly gay actor Neil Patrick Harris as a celebrity endorser.
Certainly a bold move by a brand known for its macho image.

Nationwide (Insurance) Has Spoken - Sanjaya is the Winner

Nationwide Unveils New Ad Featuring Sanjaya
Design your own Sanjaya look at Sanjaya-ize.com
Nationwide Insurance® unveiled its newest Life Comes at You Fast ad, featuring former American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar. In the tradition of Kevin Federline, Fabio and MC Hammer, Sanjaya becomes the latest celebrity to poke fun at himself in one of Nationwide’s commercials. A new microsite allows fans to upload a personal image and create their own "Sanjaya" look using the Nationwide Sanjaya widget.

In the ad, Sanjaya visits India to seek advice from a wise man who tells him he needs a retirement plan – and a haircut. Sanjaya sports a hairstyle similar to the ones he made famous on American Idol (Season 6).The ad also appeals to younger audiences, reminding them to start planning for retirement now, even if it seems a long way off.

“I think the TV ad turned out really funny,” said Malakar. “I know from personal experience that Life Comes at You Fast. I went from being an unknown singer to appearing before of millions of people as an American Idol contestant. Now I am doing a commercial for Nationwide Insurance. I’m excited to see what happens next in my career.”

Check out Sanjaya-ize.com
At www.Sanjaya-ize.com, fans can upload a picture and try on various hairstyles, outfits and accessories worn by Sanjaya in the new ads and on American Idol. When their look is complete, fans can share it with friends and family.

The ad featuring Sanjaya is one of six new spots designed to reach South Asian-American audiences.

Starbury - Great Deal Goes Sour

One of the greatest licensing deals in the sneaker and apparel industry has gone south.

Say that five times fast. More bad news for embattled retailer Steve & Barry's. As if filing for bankruptcy wasn't enough, now they're getting fouled by Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury. Marbury is suing his broke buddies for millions in royalties from his hot-selling Starbury sneaker line. Marbury launched the sneaker line two years ago with a $15 price tag so poor kids could buy them. How nice! Now that S&B has tanked, Marbury is looking for his endorsement cash, claiming he's owed $2.2 million. No worries, though. Marbury is in talks with Amazon to sell the kicks.