Late Wendy’s founder makes ad encore

The original Mr. Wendy is back.

Pictures of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, who died of liver cancer in January 2002, will be featured in a series of ads celebrating the fast-food chain’s 35th anniversary, company officials said.

The first television and print ads will be out today and more TV spots will air for a month beginning Monday, said Bob Bertini, spokesman for Wendy’s International Inc.

The ads will reference Thomas’ business philosophies, such as “Just be nice” and “Don’t cut corners.”

Thomas, pictured above right, had pitched Wendy’s hamburgers and other fare in more than 800 TV ads over 12 years, emphasizing the quality of the chain’s offerings with a folksy, straightforward delivery.

Real Estate

Mortgage rates slip

Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages dipped this week, a development that should help keep the housing market humming.

Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.74 percent for the week ending Nov. 18, Freddie Mac said in its weekly survey released Thursday. That was down from 5.76 percent last week.

Economy

Leading indicators, jobless claims drop

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators, a widely watched gauge of future economic activity, fell in October for the fifth straight month, suggesting that the economy may be slowing, a private research group reported Thursday.

The Conference Board said its main indicator of future economic growth fell 0.3 percent in October, following declines of the same size in September and August.

Separately, the Labor Department reported that new claims for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 3,000 to 334,000 last week.

Media

Kansas City Star names new publisher

Mac Tully, a Knight Ridder Inc. executive who began his newspaper career at The Kansas City Star, has been appointed to succeed Arthur S. Brisbane as the paper’s president and publisher, the corporation announced Thursday.

Tully, 48, has served since January as vice president of operations for the San Jose, Calif.-based company, overseeing its 17 small and midsized newspapers. He is expected to start work Jan. 1 in Kansas City.

Tully is a 1978 business graduate of Kansas University.