Above: Tracy Morgan in a teaser for Kraft's Super Bowl ad for its Mio water mix-ins.

There's no doubting the need or the stakes. That's why it isn't too surprising Research in Motion revealed on Friday that it will air a 30-second advertisement for its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone and operating system during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3.

BlackBerry's market share has dwindled, of course, in the wake of the onslaught by Apple, Google and Samsung on the smartphone market. Yet RIM executives have been maintaining that the 10 — with an all-new modus operandi and hardware — is not only the company's last chance, but also a game-changer. They're scheduled to reveal details on Wednesday.

"A Super Bowl commercial is a great opportunity to show the redesigned, re-engineered and reinvented BlackBerry to tens of millions of consumers on the largest advertising stage of the year," RIM CMO Frank Boulben said in a statement. The company already staged an ad takeover of the home page of the New York Times website in December.Continue reading...

AOL plans to distribute Discovery channels as its Huffington Post flip flops on Goldman Sachs.

Animal Planet finds room for Geico and other advertisers in annual Super Bowl "Puppy Bowl."

Ann Taylor brings back actress Kate Hudson as ambassador and designer.

Apple plans to offer broader guidance on earnings as it must fight to maintain dominance of iPhone.

Audi releases Super Bowl commercial with alternate endings for YouTube voting.

Boeing faces of extended inquiry by authorities into Dreamliner fires.

Bristol settles Hepatitis C claims.

Burger King drops firm that supplied horse meat in UK.Continue reading...

America is settling in for a long summer of campaigning between the Democratic candidate President Obama and the Grand Old Party’s Mitt Romney. News of minor flubs by candidates and those who work for them will come up at bars, barbecues, and ice-cream joints across the land (or be completely avoided, for everyone’s safety).

Americans will likely hear a constant media drumbeat about red states vs. blue states that will be so loud, it will seem that the country is about to burst into a Civil War.

Just in time for this comes a new study from Buyology that members of the two political parties don’t just disagree on their candidates. They also mostly disagree on the brands they love, though there are three that help bring them together. Next time a president wants to have a bipartisan summit of some sort, he or she might want to involve Coke, Apple, and Visa. Those three names were named by both parties as brands they love.Continue reading...

Ben & Jerry's supports gay marriage in the UK with "Apple-y Ever After" ice-cream and Facebook app.

How do you promote a parking app at South by Southwest? Fake parking boots!

Of course there's a "woody" Toyota Prius.

Lingerie retailer Figleaves escapes outdoor ad ban.Continue reading...

Super Bowl XLV wasn't just the highest-rated broadcast in U.S. television history. Its halo effect also extended to a rival game: The seventh annual Puppy Bowl (that's a glimpse at last year's starting lineup) on Animal Planet scored its highest ratings ever, too.

The broadcast on the Discovery-owned cable network says it scored its largest audience ever with 9.2 million unique viewers across its entire 12-hour marathon —up 60% from the previous year during the 3-5 PM ET/PT time slot.Continue reading...

Apple prepares to announce Beatles/iTunes deal at 10am ET.

BHP Billiton will keep pursuing large acquisitions despite failed bid for Potash.

Buick, Delta, Disney, Diageo, and T-Mobile test Google Goggles brand marketing.

Chrysler redefines Dodge brand, sans Ram.

Discovery buys Animal Planet and Liv TV channels from BBC.

Droid lands a starring role in Gossip Girl.

Facebook roils rivalry with Google with new messaging system.Continue reading...

More than 77 million dogs are owned by people in over 45 million households in the US. That's a statistic advertisers like Subaru have noticed. In fact, half of Subaru drivers own a pet.

That's why the car company's latest ad campaign focuses squarely on not just the owners, but their dogs – who are shown "driving" the Subaru Forester in an ad that carries the tagline "Dog tested. Dog approved." The ads started running this past weekend.

Subaru has gone a step further by partnering with the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). At "Share the Love," a recent Subaru sales event during which new car buyers could choose to donate $250 to one of five charities, the ASPCA was the top choice.Continue reading...

In a “more is more” strategy designed to keep customers from cutting their cable service, Comcast Corp. announced this week that subscribers can now watch several cable TV shows and movies over the Internet – a defensive move into the online video industry.

As the first cable TV operator to offer cable content online at no additional charge, Comcast’s new service, Fancast Xfinity TV, is initially offered only to those who subscribe to both of the company’s TV and Internet services. Customers must also download a viewing program, available through Fancast.com, before watching any shows.

“It’s our goal to allow a customer who buys a package of content from Comcast to access that content on any screen at any time,” said Amy Banse, president of Comcast’s interactive-media unit, during a demonstration of the service to reporters. “We think this is yet another step in that direction."Continue reading...