AB InBev reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its disputed $20.1 billion acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, which faces inquiry over Mexico worker deaths.

GE to buy Lufkin for $3 billion in oil-and-gas-industry play.

PepsiCo seeks to patent novel high-protein nutrition beverages.

Adidas stops controversial sale of t-shirts around injured Louisville player Kevin Ware.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong to be honored for pro-women Makers series.

Apple's former advisor to Steve Jobs admits brand screwed up iPhone naming system.Continue reading...

JCPenney cuts an additional 2,200 jobs and delays stocking Martha Stewart products as judge suggests mediation with Macy's.

McDonald's U.S. sales slip, but less than anticipated.

Disney welcomes new movie-studio chief and big plans for Star Wars franchise.

Adidas is hot on heels of Nike in sportswear in China.

Amazon logs rising revenue from servicing cloud's server needs.

Arby's targets "modern day traditionalists."

Cablevision claims coercion led to deal with Viacom.

Caribou Coffee launches new branding campaign.

Citi passes stress tests.Continue reading...

Disney sees higher TV ad revenues drive quarter and considers ESPN exit from U.K. sports coverage.

Dell seeks to transform brand, going private in $24 billion buyout under founder Michael Dell, as Microsoft gambles on involvement.

U.S. Postal Service plans to cut Saturday mail as Hallmark fights the cuts.

Apple loses right to iPhone brand in Brazil.

Arby's launches "fan of the week" promo via Facebook.

Lance Armstrong reportedly under investigation for obstruction and other serious crimes.

BP is hit by new $34 billion claim from U.S. state governments over Gulf spill.Continue reading...

Print publications have been cutting back in various ways in recent years, including employing smaller staffs and printing on smaller paper sizes. Now the 119-year-old Billboard is unveiling a total redesign that involves its own chopping down.

In the redesign, which debuts Saturday, the brand’s iconic capital “B” loses a bit of ink and be lowercased. Business Insider points out it follows a recent design trend that's seen brands like Arby’s, Weight Watchers, Lifetime and the brand formerly known as as J.C. Penney’s, jcp. 

The longstanding colors inside Billboard’s lettering will disappear on the print publication to give it a more grownup feel, but remain mostly the same on the brand’s website (though the blue in the “a” is lighter and now the “b” will get a touch of green). Each letter will also be much thicker.Continue reading...

Customers will notice something different about Wendy's starting in March: A new logo that updates the pig-tailed, red-haired "Wendy" in the brand's first revamp of its iconic brand face in 29 years.

Yes, in the tradition of Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima, Wendy — the name comes from the daughter of late founder Dave Thomas — gets a smoother new 'do and more stylish freckles. It's the first logo change for Wendy's since 1983 for the Dubin, Ohio-based fast food brand, and just the tip of the iceberg for changes coming to the burger chain, which last year dethroned Burger King for #2 spot in America.Continue reading...

Adele captures iTunes download record overnight with Skyfall theme song release at 00:07 on global James Bond Day.

Apple pays tribute to Steve Jobs as his legacy celebrated on the one-year anniversary of his death.

Starbucks to allow digital tipping.

American Airlines keeps finding more seat problems.

Arby's fixes TV spot that dissed Subway and angered Iowans.

Chipotle voted favorite Mexican chain in survey.Continue reading...

Whether Arby's new ad campaigns in the U.S. and Canada will boost the chain's sales won't be known for a while. But give Arby's this: Its new promotions credit North American consumers with a certain intellectual dexterity.

That's because both the U.S. campaign, "Slicing Up the Truth About Freshness," and the brand's new "Believe the Unbelievable" campaign in Canada rely on viewers of the advertisements to "get" creative conceits that, even if understood, they may not find all that relevant to the process of determining what sandwich to cram down their gullets that day.

But they are clever. In the U.S., for example, Arby's is rolling out out a brand refresh with a new logo "as well as an ad campaign based on the notion that the fast feeder is "slicing up" the truth about how Arby's has been freshly slicing meat in its restaurants for nearly 50 years.

It's certainly a differentiator that few if any competitors can claim. And to drive the point home, the campaign — tongue in cheek — puts former New York City police detective Bo Dietl on "the case" to "expose the truth" about fresh slicing.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola announces Global Fund donation at Clinton Global Initiative meeting, teams up with Segway creator on clean water project and launches corporate blog.

GE's Jeff Immelt joins the few brave CEOs on Twitter.

IBM targets Amazon in the cloud.

AirAsia creates child-free quiet zones on flights.

Arby's sees gains under new owners.

Barnes & Noble plans to launch Nook video service.

Chase Bank tops customer-satisfaction study.Continue reading...