Past Walk of Fame winners include the M&M characters, the AFLAC Duck, Orville Redenbacher and the Chick-Fil-A Cows.

Photo RTO Online

ColorTyme Vice President Operations Tim Hogan with a Serta Sheep at the 2008 ColorTyme Winter Operations Meeting in Frisco, Texas. See photo gallery of the event here.

For the second year in a row, the Serta Counting Sheep have been nominated for induction into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame. Among this year's famous nominated icons are the AOL Running Man, the Keebler Elves and the Geico Caveman. The event is part of Advertising Week, the largest annual gathering of advertising and media decision-makers in North America.

Serta introduced the Counting Sheep as the reluctant brand icon in 2000. Since the launch, Serta has seen significant increases in brand awareness and retail sales that has driven consumer demand for more airtime with the furry little creatures.

The campaign earned Serta the Gold EFFIE and Silver ADDY awards and appeared in more than 20 countries.

"Everything we do at Serta serves towards the goal of growing our retailers' business," says Andrew Gross, Senior VP of Marketing for Serta. "Consumers love our icon, so our national advertising gives our retail partners the local advertising leverage they need to drive more traffic to their stores."

Advertising Week is held throughout New York City the week of September 22nd, 2008. Past Walk of Fame winners include the M&M characters, the AFLAC Duck, Orville Redenbacher and the Chick-Fil-A Cows.

This year's winning icons will be announced on Monday, September 22nd at a special press conference at the corner of 42nd Street and Madison Avenue in New York. The winner will receive a spot on the walk of fame located on Madison Avenue, which includes a permanently displayed banner of the icon. The winning icon will also be recognized in the new Advertising Icon Museum, now under construction in Kansas City.