News Briefs

WENDY'S: is bringing back the image of Dave Thomas, the burger chain's deceased founder and longtime pitchman. The images are appearing in a new TV ad campaign, which began airing last week. With the reintroduction of Thomas, the company hopes to turn around flagging sales.

HERSHEY FOODS CORP.: Hershey, PA, will give out 1 million samples of its Hershey SmartZone nutritional bars in 750 health clubs over the next month. The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association handles the effort that supports SmartZone's rollout. Hershey launched SmartZone in September after winning a legal challenge by Abbott Labs, which argued that the SmartZone brand infringed on Abbott's ZonePerfect trademark (Aug. 24 Xtra).