PENNZOIL HUNTS AGENCY FOR $40 MIL ACCOUNT:POWERADE PROJECT TO FALLON MCELLIGOTT BERLIN:FORD'S UPFRONT SPENDING TURNS DOWNWARD:SBC EXPECTED TO GIVE $70 MIL ACC'T TO GSD&M:TACO BELL PROMO OFFERS STORE TO WINNER: MILLER SENDS RED DOG BEER TO ANGOTTI:F

[houston] Pennzoil Co. has put its $40 million motor oil products' account into play by sending questionnaires to undisclosed agencies. Incumbent Lois/EJL has been invited to defend the account it has held since 1963. Chief Marketing Officer Tom Floyd was unavailable for comment. [atlanta] Coca-Cola Co. has assigned a PowerAde Olympics commercial to Fallon McElligott Berlin, New York. A Coke spokesman said McCann-Erickson Worldwide, Seattle, remains the brand's agency of record. [dearborn, mich.] As the broadcast network upfront marketplace draws to a close, one of the bigger surprises is the cutback in Ford Motor Co.'s budget. The auto giant spent $65 million to $70 million, according to network and agency insiders, down at least $15 million from a year earlier. Ford generally spends more than Chrysler Corp. in the upfront, but this year Chrysler checked in at the $80 million to $90 million range, the insiders said. [san antonio] SBC Mobile Communications is expected to award its estimated $70 million new account to GSD&M, Austin, Texas. D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, St. Louis, also participated. [irvine, calif.] Taco Bell begins a promotion June 28 hyping its new $1.99 Extreme Value Combo meals of three tacos and a medium drink with a giveaway of a Taco Bell franchise. The "Giving Away the Store" promotion will offer the winner support, training and equipment and waive all royalty fees for a Taco Bell restaurant. [milwaukee] Miller Brewing Co. moved its Red Dog beer account to Angotti, Thomas, Hedge, New York, from BBDO, Toronto. In 1995 the brand got $60 million in ad support for its launch, though '96 spending is likely to drop. [new york] Time Warner, Turner Broadcasting System and Tele-Communications Inc. have a proposal before the Federal Trade Commission that, if accepted, could mean the FTC won't oppose Time Warner's multibillion-dollar acquisition of TBS. The key provision, according to executives close to the companies, is that at some future point in time TCI will divest or spin off its interest in Time Warner. TCI has said that the FTC's No. 1 concern about the deal is that TCI will eventually gain control of Time Warner. If the Time Warner/TBS deal closes as now structured, TCI will own about 8% of the merged Time Warner/TBS. [torrance, calif.] American Honda Motor Co.'s Acura division is narrowing the list for its $120 million account to six or seven shops, a prelude to the marketer's previously disclosed plan to name three finalists. Agencies believed to be on the short list include incumbent Ketchum Advertising, Los Angeles; and Rubin, Postaer & Associates and Suissa Miller, both Santa Monica. Rogge Effler & Partners, Los Angeles, was prominent early in the review, but is believed not to have heard from consultant Herb Zeltner. [san francisco] Anderson & Lembke Chairman Steve Trygg is moving here from the New York office to be chief creative officer and creative director on the Microsoft Corp. account. Anderson is trying to shore up the account following a string of recent departures. [washington] The Dole campaign began to interview possible Madison Avenue leaders to add to the campaign team. The See LATE NEWS on Page 50 LATE NEWS move comes amid growing concerns that Dole media strategist Don Sipple's reluctance to add mainstream ad executives to his New Century Group team of political advertising types might hurt the GOP campaign. Bob Gardner, president and executive creative director at Gardner, Geary, Coll & Young, San Francisco, and Parry Merkley, president of Merkley Newman Harty, New York, are both reported to have been contacted. [louisville, ky.] KFC Corp. named Randy Geir to senior VP-marketing from VP-brand marketing at sister PepsiCo unit Frito-Lay. Roger Berdusco, formerly VP-new products at Frito, succeeds him at the Plano, Texas, company. Mr. Geir succeeds Peter Waller, who moved to Taco Bell as director of marketing. Separately, KFC is bringing back the chicken bucket, discontinued in 1988, in a TV campaign breaking today from Young & Rubicam, New York. F.Y.I. Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif., is talking to agencies about a new business-to-business assignment. Ketchum Advertising, Los Angeles, is Oracle's main agency...Sebastiani Vineyards, Sonoma, Calif., is among about a half-dozen California wineries, also including Beringer Vineyards, St. Helena, Calif., who have been contacting ad agencies. .. Robert Peiser, Trans World Airlines chief financial officer and co-exec VP, and Senior VP-Marketing Mark Coleman left the carrier in a surprise move; Marilyn Hoppe, VP-revenue management, will act as VP-marketing. .. Dunkin' Donuts said it will spend $25 million to advertise its new bagel line, set to reach national distribution in spring 1997. Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG, New York, handles. .. Robert Miller, former president-CEO of Time Inc. Ventures, said he has formed Goldrush Media to hunt for acquisitions. One of the companies he is bidding on is Petersen Publishing. ... Bob Grossman to exec VP-new business development, a new post at Goldberg Moser O'Neill, San Francisco, from VP-general manager. .... Rollerblade, Minnetonka, Minn., has narrowed its review to GSD&M, Austin, Texas; and Goldberg Moser O'Neill and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, both San Francisco. ..... Capital Cites/ABC said it will suspend publication of 3-year-old Selling effective with the September issue and convert it into a 16-page newsletter. ... TMP Worldwide, a New York Yellow Pages agency, has bought Australia's largest recruitment agency, the Neville Jeffress Group, for an estimated $25 million.

PENNZOIL HUNTS AGENCY FOR $40 MIL ACCOUNT:POWERADE PROJECT TO FALLON MCELLIGOTT BERLIN:FORD'S UPFRONT SPENDING TURNS DOWNWARD:SBC EXPECTED TO GIVE $70 MIL ACC'T TO GSD&M:TACO BELL PROMO OFFERS STORE TO WINNER: MILLER SENDS RED DOG BEER TO ANGOTTI:F

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