The slump in newspaper and TV ads is spreading to national categories, according a to report from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., which said U.S. ad revenues declined 1.5 percent, the steepest since the company began tracking sales more than five years ago. Magazine sales saw a 10% drop. [Bloomberg]

Variety
Other brands on parade in "Quantum of Solace:" Omega watches, Virgin Atlantic, Sony Ericsson cell phones. Marc Graser puts the placement pricetags for each at "tens of millions" and  the number of partnerships at "about seven," which allows "the brands to stand out more and keep marketers happy, especially when they’re ponying up millions of dollars to tout their association with 007." Their ad campaigns start in October, a month before the film opens.

>> Product placement's not just for blockbusters anymore. U.K. train company Eurostar paid for Shane Meadows' new film "Somers Town." Says Kaleem Aftab: "I liked the film but found the numerous plugs for Eurostar tedious: for no reason whatsoever, the boys would inform each other that 'it only takes two hours to go to Paris' and on several occasions they walked past posters for the company." (The Independent)

>> Sylvester Stallone makes $1 million deal to promote Russian vodka (Reuters)

Ad Age
The dubious honor, which denotes “selling out” for product placement, is part of the fourth annual Brandcameo Product Placement Awards featured in the magazine’s Aug. 18 issue. "Iron Man" won the Odd Couple Award ("most seemingly ineffective product placement," for the LG cellphone).

Ad Age
As part of an integration deal between Geico and ESPN, the cavemen/failed sitcom stars will star in a series of vignettes that promote “Sports Center” as well as shilling for ESPN.com’s fantasy-football properties.

The Hollywood Reporter
" 'If anyone can transcend the limited shelf life of Olympians, it's (Michael) Phelps," said Bob Dorfman, a vice president at San Francisco-based consultancy Baker Street Partners, which compiles an annual list of sports-star endorsements. "But there are still a lot of problems.' "