International Business Machines, which has assembled an...

International Business Machines, which has assembled an ensemble of actors from the “MASH” television series for its advertising, said it has signed the star of that popular program. IBM said Alan Alda, who starred as Hawkeye Pierce in “MASH,” signed a multiyear agreement earlier this month to appear in commercials for the computer and office systems giant. The company declined to disclose how much Alda was being paid. The first ads featuring Alda will appear Saturday during ABC-TV’s Olympics broadcasts, IBM said. He will initially appear alone in IBM ads. In one commercial, Alda paddles about a flooded office and describes how an IBM service team worked without stop to restore a customer’s computer operations. He says IBM can help customers face the future in another ad and describes in a third commercial how the company can help businesses of all sizes.