It's just another day in the rehabilitation efforts of Detroit. The city has launched its first business-to-business image campaign in five years, and Al Jazeera America has revealed that it'll place one of its dozen US news bureaus in Detroit, which has one of America's largest populations of people of Arab descent.

The last several months have continued to be rough on the image of the Motor City despite the fact that the Detroit Three automakers have been coming back smartly, manufacturing in metro Detroit is re-expanding, the Red Wings qualified for this month's playoffs for an NHL-record 22 years, Motown: The Musical has debuted on Broadway, and there's a genuine and substantial influx of workers and denizens back in the battered downtown of Detroit.

Still, the city has struggled to find its footing as Michigan instated an emergency financial manager on a resistant Detroit city government, and residents and tourists alike have struggled to "Say Nice Things About Detroit."Continue reading...

New Grownup Burger Recalls Grownup Film Moment

The words burger, Heidi Klum and bourbon aren’t generally found in the same sentence, but that’s changed now that Carl’s Jr. will become the first fast-food chain to release a burger branded by a liquor. The Jim Beam Bourbon burger will start being sold Monday night and to celebrate the moment, the chain has turned out a sexy ad featuring supermodel/businesswoman Heidi Klum reprising one of American film’s sexiest characters, The Graduate’s Mrs. Robinson.

In it, Klum seduces the camera and her naïve young male costar while chowing down on a massive Jim Beam burger. (Don’t worry, teetotalers. Unlike the famed Mrs. Robinson, the burger is alcohol-free.)Continue reading...

It’s the kind of headline you can’t make up, but the New York Times got the scoop on Current TV's sale: “Al Jazeera Seeks a U.S. Voice Where Gore Failed.”

Since 2006, Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news giant, has been struggling to convince Americans its English-language 24/7 news channel is legitimate, not a mouthpiece for Middle Eastern propaganda (or worse), and their acquisition of Al Gore’s ill-fated, left-leaning and user-generated Current TV, just bought them 40 million homes. Never mind that it has picked up a raft of awards including a Columbia Journalism Award, a DuPont award, and a George Polk award.

Financed by the government of Qatar, Al Jazeera, once despised for broadcasting videotapes from Al Qaeda members and sympathizers, Current will be rebranded Al Jazeera America at a cost of about $500 million (including a $100 million payout for Gore, who owned a 20% stake in the media property). The burning question, with Americans focused on domestic issues and the economy, will U.S. viewers watch Al Jazeera's take on global news and current affairs?Continue reading...

Al Jazeera buys Current TV from Al Gore, prompting Time Warner Cable to drop channel.

Hormel Foods branches out as it buys Skippy peanut butter brand from Unilever.

Toyota declares a rebirth.

5-Hour Energy sees ad claims rebutted (again).

AB InBev plans to launch stronger U.S. version of Budweiser this year.

Amazon wins dismissal of App Store false-ad claim by Apple.

Apple "bet" energizes AT&T.

China recovery confidence spurs Hong Kong luxury sales.Continue reading...

Al Gore’s embattled, progressive cable news channel, Current TV, is on the block. Spinning it in a positive light, CEO Joel Hyatt confirmed the rumors to the New York Post, commenting, “Current has been approached many times by media companies interested in acquiring our company. This year alone, we have had three inquiries. As a consequence, we thought it might be useful to engage expertise to help us evaluate our strategic options.”

Co-owned by former Vice President Gore, Hyatt (who made his money with Hyatt Legal Services) and several private backers with similar left-leaning political views, Current is available to about 60 million homes, and receives about 12 cents per subscriber from pay-TV operators carrying it, around $82 million last year, according to SNL Kagan, with ad revenue in 2011 estimated at $16.9 million. But that's still not enough to make the media brand an attractive enough standalone play for its owners.

The channel launched in August 2005 as a youth-centric, user-generated service, fueled by Gore’s personal crusade against global warming. Positioned as a bid to "democratize" the media business, putting more power in the hands of viewers to produce and distribute their own content (and then user-generated ads, called V-CAMs, short for "viewer-created ad messages"), the ill-fated service has gone through programming and personnel upheavals since the moment it went live.Continue reading...

It didn't make headlines outside the UK, but Al Gore and Joel Hyatt's Current TV has shuttered its doors and gone off the air in the UK.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB told Current in January no more funding after the present deal expired, but did offer to keep it on its electronic program guide as an advertiser or subscription-funded channel. Current TV MD Jane Mote told C21 Media the offer came too late.

“We totally accept it is Sky’s right to stop funding Current but we don’t accept the way that it was done, using out-dated inaccurate audience figures, or that we were given no warning before a sudden cut-off in funding just before Christmas, making a rescue plan unachievable.” She added, “We were very close to finding a sustainable model but had an impossibly short amount of time given the late call by Sky on our funding.”Continue reading...

Apple will introduce new iPhones next month, board member Al Gore confirms.

Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are hit by ratings downgrades by Moody's.

Bill Gates tops 2011 Forbes 400 wealth ranker.

Facebook is introducing a 'listen with your friends' music app but faces challenges in digital entertainment.

Full Tilt Poker fires back at Justice Department.

Hulu invests in content even as it's for sale.

Netflix teams with Discovery for two-year deal.

News Corp. nixes a "Simpsons" channel but has big hopes for FX.Continue reading...

UBS warns of big losses (up to $2 billion) on rogue trades, leading to employee arrest in London.

Esprit divests North American business as profit drops 98%.

Fast Retailing, parent of Uniqlo, sets big expansion plans (opening up to 300 stores/year) as brand that "represents" Japan.

Groupon plans to put IPO back on track.

Al Gore's 24-hour Climate Reality webcast irks some.

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves insists that TV ad market is holding up.

Crocs banned for nurses in Wales.

DuPont wins nearly $1 billion in damages in Kevlar-secrets case.Continue reading...