Oscar Viewers Bubbling With Joy for Ads

Pepsi-Cola Co.’s new “Joy of Cola” advertising campaign scored well with viewers during Sunday night’s Academy Awards telecast, according to SAA/research. The Farmington Hills, Mich.-based consulting firm reported that 21% of 343 viewers polled nationwide on Monday gave top advertising honors to the new cola campaign. The Gap’s “dancers” ads finished a distant second with 8% of the vote. American Express finished in third with 7%. Television ratings for the show slipped noticeably from 1998 when the enormously popular “Titanic” helped push the Oscar show viewership to record levels.