TVSquad

Much like the marriage of Top Chef and all things Glad, Bravo's Shear Genius has inked a deal with Nexxus Salon Hair Care to be the sole integrated sponsor of the upcoming season. And we're talking full immersion here. The salon that houses the competition will be called the "Shear Genius Nexxus Salon." There will be a Nexxus challenge in the show. The stylists will use only Nexxus products. And the winner of the Shear Genius will receive $100,000 furnished by Nexxus and an apprenticeship with the company.

Get ready to lather, rinse and compete. The second season of SG will premiere on Wednesday June 25th at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Jaclyn Smith will host. Celebrity stylist Kim Vo and Allure editor Kelly Atterton will helm the judges table. Rene Fris will be back again as the contestants' mentor.

Shear Genius is the Bravo's first original series shot in high definition.

The new Chief of Marketing over at supplemental insurance company Aflac, Jeff Herbert, is planning to silence the duck. Despite the little quacker having garnered the company an 85% brand awareness rating, Herbert feels that people just don't know what Aflac actually does. So, expect to see the duck minimized in future Aflac advertisements.

Poor,duck. It probably doesn't know how to say anything other than "Aflac," which could cut the second phase of his career awfully short. Perhaps, he could go into early "fallen corporate mascot" retirement. There's got to be a pasture out there somewhere where Morris the Cat, Spuds McKenzie and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales sit around and bitch about their agents.

UPDATE: The duck lives! The AdAge story which this post referred to was picked up by news outlets all over the country. Apparently, the piece overstated Herbert's intention of expanding beyond television ads to other media where the duck's "quack" would not be heard. Aflac has officially announced that they have, "no intention of abandoning the duck."