When Gold Medal skier Lindsey Vonn's uplifting Facebook post from rehab carried the Instagram/Twitter hashtag #givesyouwings, it was just the latest example of how injury has become another opportunity for athlete spokespeople to service their brands.

Vonn posted the positive message alongside a picture of herself working out her abs as she is recovering from knee surgery after a brutal injury. The picture included her Red Bull water bottle. (She later tweeted a graphic picture of her post-op knee).

Yes, Red Bull is a Lindsey Vonn sponsor, but the fact that the four-time World Cup champion might not strap on skis for another six to eight months isn't stopping her endorsement duties. In fact, as many brands are learning, there may be as much to gain from a sponsor's thrill of victory as there is from his or her agony of defeat.Continue reading...

Even as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg awaits final implementation of his ban on too-large soft drinks in New York City, the state's attorney general now is investigating whether the energy-drink industry is deceiving consumers with misstatements about the ingredients and health value of its products.

Subpoenas went out in July to Living Essentials, maker of market leader 5-Hour Energy; to PepsiCo Inc., maker of Amp; and to Monster Beverage, the other big brand in the category, according to the Wall Street Journal. The state is seeking more information on the companies' marketing and advertising practices.

The AG's concern is that the marketers overstate the role of exotic-sounding ingredients such as taurine, ginseng and guarana while understating the significance of caffeine as the primary active ingredient in energy drinks and shots The products' labels often don't say how much caffeine is contained in the drink or how it is obtained. Continue reading...

Just as one of the world's biggest chewing-gum brands is launching a new appeal based more on emotion than functionality, a start-up gum brand is employing exactly the opposite tactic. Which one is right will be a whole lot clearer a few months from now.

Kraft's Trident brand is rolling out a new ad this week with the tagline "See What Unfolds," targeting the Millennial generation with what the brand, in a press release, called "a deeper and emotional connection."

Like other chewing-gum manufacturers, Trident has been emphasizing its products as delivery vehicles for practical benefits. Of late, Kraft had been emphasizing functional and even nutritional benefits of the various versions of Trident -- whiter teeth, vitamins, etc. Continue reading...

Apple "iPhone 5 in October" rumors heat up and cases appear, while Samsung sues to pre-emptively block the device in Korea.

Netflix's Qwikster spin-off proves a turn-off to observers, subscribers and Wall Street.

Tyson Foods releases social campaign for Feeding America, and settles 12-year legal battle with employees with $32M settlement.

AT&T faces tough battle with seven states backing DoJ suit.

Facebook and Time Warner's CNN and Cartoon Network team up on anti-bullying pledge app.

Jarritos Mexican soda appeals to non-Hispanic young men with new campaign.

Kenshoo expands relationship with Omnicom's Annalect.

Lego enhances augmented reality packaging.Continue reading...

(Warning: that coffee on the right may be cold — this is coming to you late due to technical issues this morning. Thanks for your patience!)

Apple’s charter iAd advertisers are happy with early results.

U.S. cable operators Comcast and Time Warner Cable and competitor Verizon are racing to develop iPad apps.

Facebook stands to garner nearly $1.3 billion in advertising worldwide this year, about double last year, says a new outside study.

GM's incoming CEO Dan Akerson is known as a "pragmatic leader" whose relationships with Wall Street and enthusiasm were keys to his getting the nod to replace Ed Whitacre Sept. 1. He also isn’t expected to disrupt the momentum of new CMO Joel Ewanick.

HP’s latest headache: a bribery probe by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.Continue reading...

Over the last couple of years, major energy-drink brands have launched their own smaller, shot-style drinks to try to exploit the growing niche created by the success of 5-Hour Energy.

Now, however, the category is cluttered as Full Throttle, Amp, and other energy-drink stars have leapt into the shots business. While shot sales continue to climb strongly overall, standard energy-drink sales have dramatically leveled off – especially for some of the bigger brands that are trying to work both ends of the market.

Take Full Throttle, for example. Sales of its shot version rose more than 250 percent in supermarkets, drug stores, and mass merchants (except Wal-Mart stores) surveyed by Information Resources Inc. But sales of the mainstay Full Throttle energy drink declined by nearly 3 percent during the same period.Continue reading...

It’s not unusual to see Pepsi’s name on the scoreboard at a sporting event, but now the brand is sponsoring a different kind of scoreboard: the Foursquare leaderboard.

Foursquare, the mobile social networking platform, city guide, gaming application, and friend finder has announced the start-ups first sponsorship, with Pepsi.

Foursquare is available as an application on the iPhone and Android operating system, with mobile web browsing and text messaging capabilities available on all phones. The service offers users the ability to “friend” other users, “check-in” to establishments while out on the town, and recommend restaurants and menu items.Continue reading...

Smartphones have made paper planners obsolete. So what’s a girl to do when her business portfolio needs updating? If she’s Kate Spade she wises up and jumps on the digital bandwagon.

Made available for download in the iTunes App Store on Thursday, the Kate Spade New York Agenda features a daily fully-editable calendar styled in the traditional Kate Spade motif, a mapping feature, suggestions for stylish living, a curated guide to public events, private sale information, and secret sale alerts for iPhone and iPod touch users.Continue reading...