Each day, it seems, marketers go further in their quest to deliver messages so engaging and personalized that one cannot help feeling special. The latest step will be seen today in four cities when Mini USA begins delivering custom messages to Mini Cooper owners on digital signs the company calls "talking" billboards.

The boards, which usually carry typical advertising, are programmed to identify approaching Mini drivers through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob. The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: "Mary, moving at the speed of justice," if Mary is a lawyer, or "Mike, the special of the day is speed," if Mike is a chef.

What happens if several Minis arrive at the same time? (The sign picks up the nearest car, then switches after 10 seconds.)

Can the system be hacked so that unexpected messages appear? (No more so than a digital billboard with no RFID links.)

The experiment adds a new wrinkle to the wrangling among marketers and safety experts over whether drivers might be dangerously distracted by messages flashed on the growing number of digital billboards around the nation. Some communities have forced billboard owners to modify or turn off such signs, and the federal government has said it will soon publish a review of the research on the subject.

The radio advertisement for the Dennis Mitsubishi car dealership in Columbus, Ohio, has "a whole jihad theme," said Adnan Mirza, director of the Columbus office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"They are planning on launching a jihad on the automotive market and their representatives would be wearing burqas ... ," Mirza said. "They mentioned the pope in there and also about giving rubber swords out to the kiddies -- really just reprehensible-type comments."

Details of the radio ad, which has not yet been broadcast, have been reported in the local media, but officials at the dealership declined to comment about the content of the radio spot.

"The Jeep Compass music tour kick-off concert and subsequent grassroots concerts are a great opportunity to expose a wide audience to some new, really talented artists," said G. Love. "We are excited to be part of the New York event and look forward to making some great music."

Following the Central Park kick-off event, Uncharted: The Jeep Compass Music Tour hits the road, with the emerging artists touring eight regions of the country and performing at stops -- some planned and some spontaneous -- in their designated region. The performance stops will be at traditional concert venues and public locations that are popular with music-oriented audiences. During each performance, the artists will incorporate the all-new Jeep Compass with its flip-down rear lift gate speakers.

"The artists in Uncharted: The Jeep Compass Music Tour were selected for their 'true-to-themselves' sound. Similar to the Jeep brand, they are authentic and original," said Jay Kuhnie, Director - Jeep Communications. "Through this concert series, we want to reach a new audience who are not traditional Jeep buyers, but a much younger group that makes music a part of its lifestyle. G. Love is an excellent choice to kick off the concert series with his unique sound and popularity with the people we want to reach."

Cherry Bomb is teaming up with Mopar Performance to build a fully modified 2006 Cherry Bomb Charger. The car's 5.7 Hemi engine will be tricked out with the latest performance enhancements available from Mopar Performance including high performance camshaft, lifters, torque converter, and engine and transmission controller. Other performance modifications include: headers, coil over suspension, upgraded Kicker speakers, a 3d Carbon ground effects kit, and of course a killer Cherry Bomb exhaust system.

The Cherry Bomb Charger will debut at the 2006 SEMA show followed by a full round of appearances at numerous automotive enthusiast events in 2007.

Cattrall, who plays sex-obsessed, promiscuous Samantha Jones in the hugely successful U.S. series, appears in the ad purring with excitement about Nissan's new sedan.

"Why didn't you tell me it was so big, I just wasn't prepared for it?" she gushes. "The all-new Nissan Tiida makes you feel really, really, really good inside."

She tells a salesman: "Ah! That was amazing. Absolutely fabulous! I mean the great body and the way you moved it."

The double entendre-laced ad was approved by New Zealand's Television Commercial Approvals Bureau before broadcast. Nevertheless, it sparked a number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board.

Nissan said it was taking the commercial off the air before the board could consider the objections.

The Princess Kitty is finished in pink, with matching paint applied to the wheels. The Hello Kitty trademark ribbon logo is applied to the front doors and roof, while the rear doors get a "Princess Kitty" graphic with the lovable cartoon character's face. The back window also gets a large Hello Kitty face decal. The sideview mirrors feature Hello Kitty's face in relief.

Inside, occupants rest on pink-and-white striped seatcovers adorned with the "Princess kitty" logo. The headrest covers are the shape of Hello Kitty's head, complete with ribbon on the left ear. It may be the friendliest-looking kei car ever made.

Aspiring filmmakers who enter the "Define Lincoln Luxury" contest must create an original commercial articulating their own interpretation of Lincoln luxury. The commercial should be 30 to 60 seconds in length and must feature at least one shot of a Lincoln vehicle. Judging will be based on originality and creativity, appropriateness of commercial to theme and overall appeal. Official rules, entry forms, and submission guidelines are available on http://www.lincolnlounge.com, Lincoln's all-new urban lifestyle website.

A Grand Prize winner will be selected on July 5, 2006, by a panel of experts from the advertising and film communities. In addition to a two-year lease on the 2006 Lincoln Zephyr or $10,000 in cash, the Grand Prize winner also will receive a 5-day, 4-night trip for two to South Beach, Florida on July 20 - July 24, where the winning commercial will debut at the ABFF Filmmaker Award Brunch.

As part of a partnership with the TV show "The Apprentice," GM launched a contest last month to promote the Chevy Tahoe SUV. The contest challenges viewers to create their own digital commercial about the SUV at Chevyapprentice.com. Entrants must choose from a range of video clips and sound tracks and write their own text to create their ad.

Over the weekend, hundreds of people used the Internet to circulate thousands of videos that charged GM with contributing to global warming, protested the war in Iraq or just demeaned the Tahoe's quality. Some videos also contained profanity or sexually explicit messages.

Late Monday, GM announced that it would begin screening the ads for "offensive and inflammatory" content but would not remove material based solely on a "negative tone" toward the company.

The contest is a success as a marketing campaign, according to Melisa Tezanos, a GM spokeswoman. Consumers have submitted more than 21,000 ads and have e-mailed commercials over 40,000 times, she said. Chevyapprentice.com has generated 2.4 million page views, and the average visit to the site lasts more than 9 minutes. The company anticipated before launching the contest that it may see some negative ads, but Tezanos noted that more than 80 percent of the commercials depict the Tahoe in a favorable light.

Early on we made the decision that if we were to hold this contest, in which we invite anyone to create an ad, in an open forum, that we would be summarily destroyed in the blogosphere if we censored the ads based on their viewpoint. So, we adopted a position of openness and transparency, and decided that we would welcome the debate. (As an aside, we have been truly disappointed by the number of submissions we had to filter out because of their vulgar content.) I won't bore you with the details, but the overwhelming majority of the 22,000 submissions thus far have been earnest attempts at creating positive advertisements.

The study concludes that young buyers aren't turning to traditional media like television, magazines and newspapers for the information. Lonnie Miller, managing director of the Polk Center, said auto companies need to explore new marketing techniques, such as podcasts, in order to reach young buyers over the Internet and through cell phones.

"Generation Y is tuning out traditional advertising and watching what they want when they want," Miller said in a statement. "Creating breakthrough content and developing relationships with customers through emerging media technologies will separate the winners from the losers in the next five years."

The study also found that first-time buyers are independent decision makers and rarely visit the dealers their parents last used. Sixty-five percent said they made their purchase with no influence from family or friends.

Mitsubishi Motors' brand image will be distinguished by the contemporary, edgy look put forward in the new campaign, which incorporates subtle elements of Asian influence in U.S. pop culture, often referred to as "Japanese cool," or "J.Cool." As real as the British invasion of the 1960s, the J.Cool cultural phenomena is popping up everywhere -- from Gwen Stefani's smash hit "Harajuku Girls," to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" film series, to Japanese anime cartoons and "Hello Kitty," to the Academy Award-winning film "Lost in Translation." A modern mix of Japanese influences with a distinctly current spin, J.Cool provides a wonderfully distinct flavor and complimentary backdrop to Mitsubishi's "Driven to Thrill" brand message.

What began as an experiment has become an important means of communication for GM. It has given me, personally, an opportunity to get much closer with you, the public. Often, I find your comments insightful and compelling. At times your criticism is harsh. But the fact that you have remained interested and continue to have faith in our efforts to develop great products is a worthy motivator.

Questions have been raised as to whether I will continue to be involved in FastLane given my re-focused responsibilities. The answer is an unequivocal "yes." From its inception this blog has been a forum for GM's leadership to discuss important issues with a spotlight on product... product plans, product virtues and truths. In fact, I hope to see more GM leaders begin to engage in this conversation on the FastLane over the coming weeks.