China is the second largest economy in the world and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse)—but who's got the time?! Here's the week's reads that will make you look like a keen China observer in case you find yourself immersed in a cultural conversation.

This week: Shanghai's Gangnam Bar... Maxi pad branded-content... Huang Xiaoming for Busen... Mocking Forrest Gump... Hershey and Nestle... Lenovo PC profits... China buys Fisker... Gatsby, Tesco woes... Hello Kitty melons... Art Basel hits Hong Kong... and more.Continue reading...

"During the past year, much attention has been focused on me from several angles, which has been a distraction that is not in our best interests. When we get to a point where too much attention becomes a distraction, it's time to change that dynamic."

That statement to Procter & Gamble employees (as reported by Ad Age) by Bob McDonald was cited as the primary reason he's stepping down from the consumer packaged goods giant after 33 years and making room for his predecessor, A.G. Lafley, to retake the reins on July 1st.

Here's a look back at the past year for McDonald and P&G, as reported on brandchannel:Continue reading...

Procter & Gamble's board is hoping that A.G. Lafley can pull a Steve Jobs and return to the helm of the CPG giant to make vast improvements, quickly.

Lafley is abruptly coming back to the CEO post from which he retired in 2010 after 33 years, this time to replace the soon-to-depart Bob McDonald, according to a P&G press release. Yet there will be enormous pressure on Lafley from the start to demonstrate that such a move—uncharacteristic of the conservative culture at P&G—was justified.

The changing of the guard, which will see McDonald step down on June 30, surprised most P&G investors and employees but perhaps became inevitable when McDonald, after improving the company's financial and market performance for a while last fiscal year, stumbled in late April by reporting weak sales growth to start the year.

During his four years at the top, P&G had lost a step to rivals such as Unilever in terms of market share and profitability. Despite the fact that McDonald had launched the popular Tide Pods product line, a $10-billion cost-cutting program and had managed to improve P&G's position a bit during the second half of 2012, he couldn't do enough, quickly enough.Continue reading...

Golfer Sergio Garcia has made more than $24 million since 1999 just with his golfing skills, so he doesn’t exactly need the extra money from endorsements, but it would be a very public slap in the face (and dent in his wallet) if his main sponsor, TaylorMade-Adidas, decided to dump him due to an insensitive remark he made earlier this week.

Garcia and Tiger Woods have been known to not enjoy each other’s company very much and have been engaged in a bit of a spat since the two had an encounter at the Players Championships. While playing on the same hole, Woods pulled a club from his bag just as Garcia was taking a swing. Tiger’s actions and the crowd’s response distracted Garcia and his shot went a bit off course, CNN reports. Verbal jabbing on the course followed, and Woods went on to win the tourney.

In the leadup to this weekend’s European Tour matchup, Garcia was asked at a press conference Tuesday if he would invite Woods over to his place. "We'll have him 'round every night,” he said, according to ESPN. “We will serve fried chicken." The comment earned him a load of recrimination, an outraged tweet from Woods, and the threat of his main sponsor pulling the plug: "Sergio Garcia's recent comment was offensive and in no way aligns with TaylorMade-Adidas Golf's values and corporate culture," said a statement released by the company. "We have spoken with Sergio directly and he clearly has regret for his statement and we believe he is sincere.”Continue reading...

"Not so fast, Tesla," says @chrysler comm chief, re claims it's first to repay U.S. govt. @teslamotorsbit.ly/14zB6sJ #shortciruit

— Chrysler (@Chrysler) May 23, 2013

Tesla became the first company to completely repay the US government under the Obama administration's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, providing a much-needed green-loan victory for the federal government after the debacles of its lending to Solyndra, A123 Systems, Fisker and others.

But Tesla apparently went a bit too far in its news release by stating that it would become "the only American car company to have fully repaid the government." Tesla may have tried to exploit a matter of mere semantics, but Chrysler disputed Tesla's claim—and by the end of Thursday, Tesla was slapping back.Continue reading...

P&G CEO Bob McDonald retires from troubled tenure as predecessor A.G. Lafley comes back to the company to take the CEO post.

Google faces antitrust probe over dominance in online display ads.

AT&T imposes new wireless fee and adds iPhone to pre-paid GoPhone program.

Apple faces potential setback in e-books case.

Boy Scouts of America vote to allow gay scouts into its ranks. 

Campbell Soup's parent acquires Plum Organics.

Daimler and Ford strengthen technology ties.

Dodge banks on Fast & Furious 6 tie-in to rev flagging Dart sales.Continue reading...

In the weeks after the attacks on September 11, then President George W. Bush, who brilliantly took a megaphone into his hand at Ground Zero and pledged to get whoever had done this to America, had an approval rating of 90 percent, according to Gallup. The numbers went down, of course, and he ended up with an average of 37 percent in his full second term. 

So Walmart, which is on the hot seat these days for its strategy for improving working conditions at factories in Bangladesh as well as its not-so-great financial results, is hoping one of Bush’s main aides, Dan Bartlett, can help them with their own approval ratings. The 41-year-old and his wife along with their four young sons will be moving to Arkansas as he is taking on the role of executive vice president of corporate affairs, according to The New York Times.Continue reading...

It’s been a big week in the twitter-verse as the micro-blogger, now transmitting close to 400 million messages a day, has made three decisive moves forward.

First, Twitter announced the implementation of a two-factor authentication technology to boost security for its users after recent hacker attacks on the Financial Times, The Onion and the Associated Press accounts. The lack of added security reached a crescendo of criticism in April when a fake tweet about a non-existent White House explosion, sent from the AP account, caused havoc in US financial markets.

The two-factor authentication feature, which is voluntary for users, sends a second, one-time log-in code via text message, making it harder for hackers to break-in to an account with just a main password. Both Jeep and Burger King have been victims as well. Criticized for not putting such measures into place earlier, a Twitter rep said the rollout was delayed due to required updates to its SMS architecture. Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple offer it already.Continue reading...