commercials

Despite Charlie Sheen's latest offscreen misbehavior, advertisers are sticking with his show, Two and a Half Men. It may be that the show's numbers -- it draws 15.2 million viewers -- are just too good to walk away from.

Despite a slip in its ratings dip and the loss of man-we-love-to-hate Simon Cowell, American Idol remains the most expensive show on TV for advertisers. Why are they willing to pay close to half a million dollars for a 30-second spot? Young viewers, and lots of them.

As American Idol continues to fall flat with viewers, advertisers are flocking to the Super Bowl, which may just turn out to be the Hail Mary pass that Fox Broadcasting needs.

Commercials are filled with characters that companies have created to help consumers remember their brand and desire their product or service. Sometimes they turn to the make-believe (think: the Pillsbury Dough Boy or Geico's Gecko), but often they hire real people to play the role. When the...

If you were McDonald's, would you tinker with a Big Mac? And if your sales just climbed 10% in this stink-bag of an economy, would you dump the ad campaign that was partially responsible? We didn't think so. Neither did the Golden Arches. McDonald's unveiled its "new" campaign this week -- and...

CBS, which broadcast the Super Bowl, is reportedly giving Dockers three free 30-second commercial spots during the NCAA men's basketball championships to make up for the mistake of scheduling two ad spots featuring men in their skivvies in adjacent slots.

Using sex in advertising is a tried and true way to sell a product. But one company is betting that fear may be just as effective. Broadview Security (formerly branded as Brinks Home Security) has been airing ads that feature a series of scenarios that play on women's darkest fears.

A new video ad for Grasshopper is designed to penetrate your shopping consciousness even while you fast-forward through commercials. Take it as a rather feeble attempt to counter the behavior that is going to have a huge, and detrimental, effect on video entertainment via the Internet and...

It seems airlines will stoop to anything in their pursuit of saving or making money. Long gone are the days of free food on bargain flights. Be prepared to pay to check even one bag. As if those skinflint ideas weren't enough, AirTran Airways (AAI) is placing ads on the backs of tray tables where...

Each year, it seems, the holiday season starts earlier. The decorations, the music, the Black Friday deals. So it makes sense that the finger pointing and accusations that retailers are anti-Christmas starts earlier too. That first shot was fired by the American Family Association, calling for "a...