Q&As

New Balances Athletic Shoe, Inc. is kicking off a multi-million dollar partnership with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit education arm behind the Sesame Street series, to sponsor the show and other initiatives.

Reader Al Stanton recently sent in a request for an election-season direct-marketing-and-politics contest. Stanton suggested having folks submit either the most fitting theme song for Congress, or the best tagline to spur voting. (For the song he nominated Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves,” and for the tagline he offered “Get service back in Congress: Make IN-cumbents OUT-cumbents.”)

I hear you, brother Al, and I salute both of your efforts. To give the contest even more of a DM-centric feel, I invite readers to submit

Newcastle Brown Ale is going interactive, adding a series of CDs to its 12-packs.

HBO Sports is producing a series of events in New York City to promote its upcoming heavyweight championship boxing match between Wladimir Klitschko and Calvin Brock, which airs on the network this month.

Two activist groups who filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission earlier this week are attempting to redefine the commonly understood definition of personally identifiable information in an effort to get anti-online-advertising legislation passed.

Seven former officers and directors of former bankrupt cataloger Spiegel Inc. have settled alleged financial impropriety charges with the Security and Exchange Commission.

Sharper Image Corp posted sales of $38.1 million for October, a 17% decrease from $46.1 million in the prior year period.

The Talbots, Inc. expects to report total sales of $568.6 million for the third quarter, a 33% increase over $426.3 million in the prior-year period.

Little Caesars has teamed up with Hasbro to launch a holiday promotion that touts some of the toymaker’s board games on pizza box tops and dangles an online sweepstakes for a chance to win a beach trip and other prizes.

In the vein of American Idol auditions, the National Football League (NFL) is giving fans the opportunity to pitch their idea for a NFL Super Bowl commercial via screening events, with the possibility of having the winning concept developed into a commercial to air during next year’s game.