Marketing Week articles from February 2004

Marketing Week archives from February 2004

BBC's loss may not be ITV's gain.(This Week)
February 5, 2004... For ITV, the massive discomfiture caused to the BBC by Hutton could not be more providential. Gone, in an instant, is its nemesis--Greg Dyke, symbol of a dynamic and all-too-commercial competitor. And with him, the idea of the BBC's...

Government ads to push tough stance on asylum: Home Office campaign to publicise tough attitude on smuggling and faster applications process.(News)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The Government is plotting a sensitive advertising campaign about asylum seekers, after coming under continuous fire for failing to act on the issue. It is believed that the campaign will challenge recent media reports about chaos in the UK's...

Woolworths starts hunt for marketing director.(News)(Woolworths Group PLC looks for replacement for Octavia Morley)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Woolworths is looking for a new marketing director following a sideways move by marketing chief Octavia Morley, who is taking up a more commercial role. The retailer has called in headhunters to find a replacement for Morley, who is moving...

Co-op food stores to sell financial services.(News)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The Co-op is to offer financial services through its network of more than 2,000 convenience stores. This will be the first time that financial services have had a physical presence in the chain's food outlets. Co-operative Financial...

P&G appoints Wella chief as 700 are axed.(News)(Procter & Gamble and Wella Corp. restructuring)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Procter & Gamble has promoted Gill Whitty-Collins, marketing director for its health and beauty business, to control its Wella retail brands, which include Silvikrin, Viva, Vosene and Shockwaves. This follows a cull of one-third of Wella's...

Unilever promotes Pot Noodle chief to top job.(News)(Chris Springford becomes director of Unilever Bestfoods Australasia)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Unilever Bestfoods has promoted its top marketer on savoury and dressings, Chris Springford, to managing director of Unilever Bestfoods Australasia. Springford was responsible for commissioning the controversial "slag of all snacks" Pot Noodle...

Super-Max appoints Johnson & Johnson marketer to top UK role.(News)(Super-Max Corp. appoints Sebastian Kracht )(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Shaving products company Super-Max has appointed Johnson & Johnson marketer Sebastian Kracht as its UK marketing chief. Kracht will hold the newly created position of general manager for marketing. He will spearhead the company's efforts to...

Rugby Football Union launches soft drink brand to capitalise on World Cup victory.(News)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is to launch a soft drink brand as part of a wider plan by the rugby governing body to capitalise on licensing deals in the wake of England's World Cup victory. Called Swing Low Sweet Chariot, the brand will...

Lever Faberge plans 4m [pounds sterling] Surf revamp.(News)(detergent campaign by new agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Lever Faberge is planning a 4m [pounds sterling] revamp of detergent brand Surf in an attempt to make it into a more upmarket brand for younger families. The move marks a considerable change of strategy for the 50-year-old brand. A...

Kraft appoints European chief.(News )(Kraft Foods Europe )(Silvia Bagliani appointed marketing chief for Philadelphia cheese brand)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Kraft Foods Europe has appointed Silvia Bagliani as European marketing chief for the Philadelphia cheese brand. She replaces Paul Watmore, who was promoted to marketing director for Australia and New Zealand last summer (MW August 14, 2003)....

Wrigley bolsters kids' gum with Hubba Bubba launch.(News)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The Wrigley Company plans to strengthen its position in the children's bubble gum market by launching Hubba Bubba Mix & Match. It will be one of Wrigley's key launches for children this year, and part of a 2.5m [pounds sterling] investment in...

Dixons Group.(appoints managing director)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Dixons Group marketing services director Elizabeth Fagan has been made managing director of The Link. She replaces Nick Wood, who becomes managing director of Dixons. The Dixons position was left vacant by Chris Langley, who has left the group....

John Reid.(white paper on obesity)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... John Reid, the health secretary, has announced a White Paper to tackle issues surrounding obesity, including advertising and food labelling. It is due to be published this summer.

Orange.(Digests)(Orange installs recharge points in London cabs)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Orange is installing recharge points in 30 London black cabs that will offer a free mobile recharge for any network as part of a promotion. The cab liveries have been customised in the style of hot-rod cars.

Abbey.(Abbey National)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Abbey has poached Woolworths Big W managing director Jonathan Hart for the post of head of branch retail. Hart will oversee a transformation of the bank's high street branch network.

Lever Faberge.(product introduction )(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Lever Faberge has confirmed it is launching a shower and bath product range under its Lux brand, as exclusively revealed in Marketing Week last year (November 20, 2003).

Ryanair.(to appeal ruling)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Ryanair has confirmed it will appeal to the European Court following this week's ruling by the European Commission that subsidies received from Charleroi airport in Belgium by the airline are illegal.

Wall's.(limited edition Cornettos)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Wall's, the Unilever-owned ice cream brand, is launching six limited-edition Cornettos called Cornetro Love Potions. The launch will be supported by a 6.5m [pounds sterling] marketing campaign, similar to last year's Magnum Seven Deadly Sins.

Camelot.(Digests)(Camelot Group PLC)(launch of scratchcard based on Hasbro game)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Camelot has launched a scratchcard based on toy maker Hasbro's Twister board game. The game will have a top prize of 40,000 [pounds sterling].

French Connection.(Digests)(Ryanair)(censured by the Advertising Standards Authority)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... French Collection has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for using the slogan 'fcuk vanity' on a poster campaign promoting its cosmetics range. The ASA has also upheld complaints against Ryanair press ads which used the...

KLM.(Digests)(KLM Royal Dutch Airlines appoints David Paice as UK marketing manager)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... KLM has appointed David Paice as marketing communications manager to head its UK marketing team. He joins from Bourne Leisure, where he was product manager for Warner Holidays.

Crisis.(appoints director of communications)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Crisis, the homelessness charity, has appointed Diabetes UK campaigns director Mark Flannagan as its director of communications and campaigning.

Viacom.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Viacom, owner of the Blockbuster video stores, is planning to float the chain if it cannot find a buyer for the business, which it regards as non-core.

HMV reviews 14.5m [pounds sterling] advertising account.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... HMV UK is reviewing its advertising account, which has been held by Bds Beechwood for the last seven years. The incumbent agency has been invited to pitch for the business, which is worth 14.5m [pounds sterling] (Nielsen Media Research)....

Fallon wins Holsten ad business after TBWA/London resignation.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Holsten UK has appointed Fallon to its advertising account, following the recent resignation of TBWA/London from the business. The appointment was made without a formal pitch. According to Nielsen Media Research, Holsten UK has slashed its...

Budget picks Mustoes for relaunch brief.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Budget Rent A Car has appointed Mustoes to handle its first advertising campaign in more than two years. The appointment is on a project basis. The car rental company, now owned by Avis, is likely to call a full agency pitch later in the...

Three line up for Jordans ad account.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Cereal brand Jordans Cereals is talking to agencies as part of a review of its marketing strategy. It is understood to have contacted three agencies, Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest, the Leith Agency and St Luke's, about its 1m [pounds...

Two to split 10m [pounds sterling] Glenfiddich task.(William Grant and Sons)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... William Grant & Sons has split its 10m [pounds sterling] global advertising for the Glenfiddich whisky brand between Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest (VCCP) and US-based Merkley Newman Harty (MNH). The incumbent McCann-Erickson has lost the...

DDB scoops account for London elections.(Agencies)(DDB London)(London Elects)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... DDB London has scooped a 1m [pounds sterling] project to promote this summer's London elections, which include the Mayoral, London Assembly and European Parliament elections. It pitched against Soul, WCRS and Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy....

CCHM.(awarded ad account)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... CCHM has won the 3m [pounds sterling] Derbyshire Building Society advertising account following a four-way pitch. The Derbyshire plans to relaunch next year with a television campaign.

Kemistry.(branding campaign for Vue)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Kemistry, the brand development agency, has created the in-cinema branding campaign for new cinema chain Vue, while Alcone and Radioville have created external press, mobile outdoor and radio advertising. The chain begins rebranding the Warner...

HDM.(ad campaign for Bermuda Tourism)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... HDM has developed a 1m [pounds sterling] advertising campaign for Bermuda Tourism designed to promote the island to a more sophisticated, upmarket traveller. Four city-centre Selfridges stores will be vinyl-wrapped in suitable imagery to...

Lowe.(ad campaign for Coca-Cola Great Britain)
February 5, 2004... Lowe has developed the launch advertising for Coca-Cola Great Britain's Dasani brand. The national outdoor campaign has the strapline 'Prepare to get wet. A new water's coming' and the ads show a bus-stop queue with one waiting passenger in a...

Leo Burnett.(awarded Department of Health project)
February 5, 2004... Leo Burnett has won a 4m [pounds sterling] Department of Health project to help recruit social care workers. Media planning is by Media Vest and media buying through MediaCom.

Grey London.(creates television campaign)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Grey London has created a TV campaign for Procter & Gamble's Bold 2-in-1 detergent and fabric conditioner. The campaign uses the tagline 'Part of the Fabric of Life' and moves away from Bold's traditional value-led marketing.

Citigate Albert Frank.(creates TV campaign)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Citigate Albert Frank has created a 2m [pounds sterling] TV campaign for Scottish Widows. The campaign, which breaks next week, shows the 'Widow' backstage, encouraging performers and actors to take to the stage.

Corporate Edge.(appointed by Marks and Spencer)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Corporate Edge has been appointed by Marks & Spencer to advise on and produce its corporate publications, including its annual report and annual review, after a strategic pitch against three unnamed agencies.

WAVV Rapp Collins.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... WAVV Rapp Collins has created a 3.3m [pounds sterling] integrated campaign including terrestrial TV for charity Cancer Research. The 'All Clear' campaign is designed to highlight the 12 per cent reduction in cancer deaths in the past 30 years.

McCann-Erickson.(ad campaign for Norwich Union)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... McCann-Erickson has created a 3m [pounds sterling] TV advertising campaign for insurer Norwich Union to promote its savings and investment products. The ads will be supported by press and outdoor activity.

Campbell Doyle Dye.(campaign for Intelligent Finance)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Campbell Doyle Dye has created its first campaign for Intelligent Finance, the internet and phone bank owned by Halifax Bank of Scotland. A press campaign breaks this week followed by a TV campaign in March.

ITV moots ads overhaul to tackle channel-hopping.(Media)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... ITV is planning to test-market new patterns for its break junctions and is looking at putting programme promotions in the middle of the ads. If the trial goes ahead, only sponsorship bumpers and station idents will be broadcast after the...

JC Decaux has created a new outdoor format for DaimlerChrysler's diminutive Smart City car.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... JC Decaux has created a new outdoor format for DaimlerChrysler's diminutive Smart City car. The format is designed to highlight the Smart car's ability to squeeze into small parking spaces and the smaller billboards will be squeezed between...

Npower threatens to quit over cricket sponsorship.(Media)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is in crisis talks with longstanding partner npower after it took steps to sign a title sponsor for its Twenty20 Cup club tournament. Last week, mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse emerged as the...

Publisher to launch celebrities' homes title.(Merricks Media)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Publisher Merricks Media is launching a homes and furnishings magazine called Celebrity Homes in Match. The Bath-based publisher, which specialises in property and travel magazines, is hoping the magazine will revitalise the homes magazine...

UKTV to launch new channels.(Media)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... UKTV is to launch two factual channels--UKTV Documentary and UKTV People--to replace UK Horizons. It is also rebranding all of its channels to include the full name of the broadcaster, so that it is immediately obvious that they are part...

TV industry considers RAB-style organisation.(Media)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... A new television advertising body similar to the radio industry's Radio Advertising Bureau could be given the green light by broadcasters and television sales houses in the next month or so. Channel 4, Five, BSkyB, ITV, Viacom Brand...

ITV Sales.(job redundancies)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... ITV Sales is to make up to 160 redundancies in its sales team following the merger of Carlton and Granada to form ITV plc, which began trading on the stock market this week. A 90-day consultation period began for the sales team last Friday (MW...

Starcom Motive.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Starcom Motive has been appointed to handle the 1.5m [pounds sterling] media planning and buying account for roadside restaurant chain Little Chef.

Virgin Radio.(shares drop)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Virgin Radio, the Scottish Media Group-owned station, is refusing to accept the Rajar figures for the fourth quarter of 2004, which showed that its share had dropped from 2.6 per cent to 1.8 per cent. Its listening fell by 16 per cent. The...

... 95.8 Capital FM.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... ... 95.8 Capital FM has recaptured its position as London's leading commercial radio station, putting on 150,000 listeners to 1.2 million and increasing its share to 8.9 per cent. according to Rajar.

Dr Pepper.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Dr Pepper, the Coca-Cola Great Britain drinks brand, is to sponsor the second series of MTV prank show Punk'd, hosted by Ashton Kutcher. The first series had no sponsor.

MyTravelLite.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... MyTravelLite, the low-cost airline division of MyTravel. is seeking a partner to brand one of its aircraft as a 'flying billboard'.

Lastminute.com.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Lastminute.com has appointed BLM to handle its 5m [pounds sterling] media planning and buying account. Banc has been appointed to handle advertising for the online holiday company's forthcoming Valentine's Day campaign.

The Daily Telegraph.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The Daily Telegraph has signed a deal with Skipton Financial Services to launch a free guide and advice service to explain inheritance tax. To receive the guide, consumers must respond to an ad or apply online...

... The Sunday Telegraph Six Nation Guide.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... ... The Sunday Telegraph Six Nations Guide, a preview to the rugby tournament, is to be published with the newspaper this weekend. It will be supported by television advertising.

Chrysalis Radio.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Chrysalis Radio has won a three-year sales deal with Guardian Media Group Radio to handle national sponsorship and promotion activity for Jazz FM, Smooth FM and the three Real Radio stations. It will also handle local airtime sales for 102.2...

BAR.(Digests)(Formula One racing team)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... BAR, the Formula One racing team, has threatened to withdraw from the UK unless the Government changes its plans to prohibit tobacco sponsorship of domestic companies.

The International Olympic Committee.(Digests)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The International Olympic Committee has asked for bids for the European media rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympic games. Last year, NBC bought the US rights for more than 1.5m. [pounds sterling]

UKTV takes break from the clutter: UKTV is reducing the length of its ad breaks in a bid to retain viewers and attract advertisers--as fewer ads mean greater recall.(Media Analysis)
February 5, 2004... All broadcasters are faced with the challenge of preventing viewers from channel-hopping during the commercial break. It is a problem that, naturally, affects advertisers and is one that is sure to escalate as more viewers sign up to...

We must help advertisers to ride radio's digital wave: sales of digital radio are booming as customers embrace the new technology, but radio stations must maximise DAB's potential for advertisers.(Media Comment)(Digital Audio Broadcasting)
February 5, 2004... Digital radios were selling like hot cakes at my local Dixons over Christmas. Those of us who bought one over the festive period are part of the latest trend to rock the radio world. Estimated sales figures from the Digital Radio...

Can Oyster make the UK love chips? Transport for London's Oyster scheme is the UK's most visible smartcard project to date. If it can overcome teething troubles and privacy concerns, it may pave the way for similar cards in a range of areas.(News Analysis)
February 5, 2004... Ostensibly, Transport for London's (TfL) Oyster smartcards were introduced to speed up passengers' journeys--but the implications of the technology reach far beyond avoiding the Monday morning queue in a chilly Underground station. The...

Global challenge for Red Cell's new blood: the new management team at Red Cell must boost the agency's international portfolio to build on their predecessors' good work.(News Analysis)
February 5, 2004... Is Red Cell suffering death by a thousand cuts? The advertising network has seen changes at the top in the past seven days that could either herald a new dawn or see the network slip back into being a repository tot clients from WPP Group's...

GfK vs RAJAR: the winners and the losers: heart narrows gap with Capital for No. 1 slot in London, according to latest results from the first ever UK survey to use electronic measurement of radio and TV audiences.(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
February 5, 2004... Heart 106.2 has narrowed the gap with Capital to just 75,000 listeners in the battle for the highest weekly reach in the London commercial radio market, according to the latest results from the first ever UK survey to use electronic measurement...

What will ITV gain from the BBC's loss? Greg Dyke's abrupt resignation from the BBC following the publication of the Hutton Report is likely to reverberate through the UK television industry in some unexpected ways.(Cover Story)
February 5, 2004... There would be more than a little irony in Greg Dyke, the former director-general of the now battered and bruised BBC, ending up as chairman of rival ITV in the aftermath of the Hutton Report. For the past few years, ITV has been the...

When I said: 'I'll finish my career here' ...(diary)(Independent Television)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... "Having worked in ITV where the regulator was outside, the effectiveness of the governors over what we do and don't do is much greater than the {Independent Television Commission's} ever was over commercial television." British Airways'...

Has The Guardian a store to settle?(diary)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Is Tesco marketing director Tim Mason letting success go to his head? Is he no longer taking note of his chain's image? He may have been voted top marketer in these pages last week, and his chain may be gobbling up the UK's retail market at a...

Men with some career direction.(diary)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... What's in a name? An oft-asked question, and increasingly, in marketing circles at least, the answer seems to be "a sentence". It would seem that to get on in the marketing or business world, it is useful to have a name that can stand...

Fancy a two-up two-down, love?(diary)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Last October, George Pitcher took a rather dim view of the use of sex to sell properties (MW October 16, 2003). The Diary hopes that he's not reading this--it might tip him over the edge. In last week's Weekend FT, house-hunters were no doubt...

Spin out of control: PR can be an effective way for brands to generate column inches and to get noticed--often for very little money. But such tactics can backfire--as the Alliance & Leicester knows. It faces a legal battle with Renault, which is fuming over bad press spun from the bank's sponsored research.(Public Relations)(Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank PLC)
February 5, 2004... Everyone likes a bargain. And a bargain is exactly what Alliance & Leicester thought it was getting last month when its research on used-car prices was used a public relations exercise and was picked up in lurid terms by the national press....

A virtual virus which can cause physical breakdown: the writer of Mydoom probably sees himself as a brave battler against corporate tyranny. George Pitcher just hopes he doesn't prove too inspirational to al-Qaida.(Business)(Column)
February 5, 2004... I am accustomed, I'm afraid, to receiving emails promising to enhance the size of various parts of my body, from my lips to my nether regions. They make a diverting change to messages from generous-hearted Nigerians, offering to deposit...

Boots counts the cost of not counting the pennies: the popularity of 'no-frills' value brands offers some vital lessons for the high street's more established 'premium price' names.(Marketing)
February 5, 2004... When Wal-Mart first bought Asda just over three years ago, Boots chairman Lord Blythe was asked about the likely consequences for his company. Boots need not worry, he replied, because its costumers were "not all that price sensitive". Three...

Permission to make PR a powerful tool.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... The Chartered Institute of Marketing paper that Alan Mitchell covered in his article (MW, January 22) argues that marketing communications have descended to a state of "pointless deluge". The answer, argues the CIM, lies in moving to an "age...

Tanks for the memory, Sean ...(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... Oh dear--Sean Brierley at 38 is clearly too young for nostalgia (MW January 22). In predicting sea monkeys as a future retro product, he is missing out on the fact that one of the reasons they're selling now is that old fogeys like me are...

... And reopening old Wah wounds.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed Scan Brierley's nostalgia article. However, I'm having difficulty believing that he could ever have actually hated The Mighty Wah. Anyone from his age group will verify that "Story of the Blues"...

Marketing idol: where he is now.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... I was concerned that despite appearing in your top marketers list (for which thanks to 22 per cent of my peers), I am listed as "position unknown" (M1W last week). For the record, nor to mention any potential clients, I have established a sales...

Footie views are a load of dribble.(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... I am writing in response to Iain Murray's column (MW January 22), in which he describes football fans "like a bunch of halitosis-ridden extras in a spaghetti western... foul tribes of hare-filled, drunken, obscenity-chanting uglies". This...

Net will seriously damage brands.(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... Ridiculous as this may sound, do companies actually look to find themselves? Do they know where they are? No I'm not talking about new-age spiritualism, I'm talking about online brand visibility. Looking through Marketing Week, I don't see...

We can't always be pitch perfect.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 5, 2004... With reference to your article on the appointment of Clear Marketing to create the advertising campaign for the launch of Smooth FM in the North west (MW January 15), I would like to clarify that there was not a formal creative pitch for the...

Innovation is the biggest story: with sales declining across the newspaper sector, national titles must look to innovation and new media channels to drive future growth and success.(Factfile)
February 5, 2004... The UK has a big appetite for news. Last year the UK consumed 4.58 billion national and daily newspapers--or 78 papers for every man, woman and child in the country. But this appetite is declining and the market is shrinking in volume. This...

Important considerations when choosing a daily/Sunday newspaper.(Newspapers)(Illustration)
February 5, 2004... IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CHOOSING A DAILY/SUNDAY NEWSPAPER National stories/current affairs 46% Sport 30% International stories 29%...

Newspaper readership (all) by gender, age and socio-economic status.(Newspapers)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 5, 2004... NEWSPAPER READERSHIP (ALL) BY GENDER, AGE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS Men 73% Women 64% 15-24 61% 25-34 68% 35-44 64% 45-54 65% 55-64 ...

Sitting comfortably? Market researchers can find their clients 'switch off' when faced with facts and figures. A sprinkling of the storyteller's art could bring them out of their daze.(Special report: market research)
February 5, 2004... Picture a literary scene: Elizabeth Bennett arriving windswept and muddied at Mr Darcy's gates; Olivet Twist, bowl in hand, plaintively seeking more; exuberant Toad, in gauntlets and goggles, blasting through the countryside in a gleaming...

Getting technical: are limitations on the technology available to marketers and an over-reliance on IT departments hindering the progress of fully personalised direct marketing?(Special report: direct marketing technology)
February 5, 2004... It is easy to believe that the era of fully personalised marketing is within reach. The talking posters shown in the film Minority Report, for instance, seem to be just an extension of existing online marketing practices. Haven't all...

Fat motorists get it in the neck as time-bomb ticks on: thick-necked motorists are the latest group that the health lobbyists have decided to pick on. But they may have bitten off more than they can chew.
February 5, 2004... I know, dear reader, that you have plenty to contend with already: you stand accused of creating pester power, peddling false wants, and poisoning the wells of commerce with lies and distortion; and, as if that were not enough, you are to blame...