ATLANTA, GA— How will Cendant Corp. and Choice Hotels International feel about their former chief executives accepting starring roles in a series of U.S. Franchise Systems television commercials, set to begin airing on The Weather Channel? That is precisely the scenario that will unfold when USFS kicks off a marketing blitz under the heading “People who know hotels stay at Hawthorn Suites.” In the commercials, either former Days Inns CEO John Russell or former Choice Hotels President Don Landry are depicted as guests at a Hawthorn property…sometimes fending off an over-eager female reporter, other times savoring the succulence of a breakfast sausage. Moreover, USFS President/CEO Mike Leven similarly assented to “star” on the small screen; in his case, fervently noting that— unlike the other two “retired” lodging industry executives— he’s still working.—Michael Billig
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