Flashes: May 2, 1997

GIN BIZ Tanqueray Gin may have scored the biggest promotional coup since Tom Cruise wore Ray-Bans in Risky Business. The liquor's latest print ad, in which the martini-swilling spokescharacter Mr. Jenkins touts his cameo in Volcano, is no joke. In the film, a Tanqueray ad appears on a bench and also on a bus kiosk just before it gets steamrolled by a river of lava. The deal marks the first time Twentieth Century Fox — which has a policy against tie-ins with hard liquor and cigarettes — has made such a partnership. ''We just thought the ad was so clever,'' explains Steve Ross, Fox's senior VP of worldwide promotions. And so inexpensive, too. While Volcano got a free plug from Schieffelin & Somerset Co., Tanqueray's importer, the gin folk saved what could have been up to 50 grand on product placement. ''It's just a nice cross- promotion,'' says Larry Greifer, VP of entertainment marketing at S&S. ''We like their product, they like ours.'' We'll drink to that.