Apple shares reach $700 as iPhone 5 shatters sales record.

Belvedere owes Bruce Willis for years of representing Sobieski vodka.

Burberry says strategy won't change as brand brings capes to London Fashion Week.

Chrysler and GM will get a chance at deal similar to new labor accord between Ford and Canadian Auto Workers.

Conde Nast plans French Vanity Fair.

Dole Food to sell businesses to Itochu.

Dos Equis finds some fans unimpressed with Obama endorsement by its "most interesting man" actor.Continue reading...

ABSOLUT Mode: Reflections of Fashion

The ever-chic ABSOLUT brand continues its long association with the world of high fashion with the ABSOLUT Mode Edition, a 12-faceted bottle wrapped in a silk cloth design and a sleek ad campaign starring model Shannan Click, shot by Sharif Hamza. The bottle is now available exclusively at Selfridges and Harvey Nichols in the UK, and after Sept. 5, the special edition will be sold at other major UK retailers.

British designer Gareth Pugh has designed an even more exclusive edition of the bottle featuring a “batwing” design inspired by the iconic “Stealth” jacket from his Autumn 2007 collection. This limited edition bottle will only be available after Sept. 7 by going to the W London Insider at the W London in Leicester Square and saying the password “Reflections of Fashion.” No word on the price for this bottle or how many will be available, so latecomers may find themselves speaking nonsense for nothing.Continue reading...

The "Real Man" campaign featuring Sean Penn and a host of other actors and star athletes was released today in support of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's DNA Foundation — short for Demi'n'Ashton as well as Donate/Notify/Action. 

The tagline is "Real Men Don't Buy Girls." So what do "Real Men" do? Evidently, "iron" (above) and "walk it off" (below), even with a gaping wound.

It's a well-meaning if muddled (there's a live-action sequence, followed by Jessica Biel or Eva Longoria highlighting another "real man") effort, the biggest to date in the foundation's commitment to raise awareness and stop child prostitution, sex slavery and trafficking.Continue reading...

Nike released a second trailer for The Black Mamba, its upcoming short film directed by Robert Rodriguez and starring Kobe Bryant, with appearances by Bruce Willis, Kanye West and Danny Trejo.

Kobe Bryant wants to be known as the Black Mamba — now he's starring in a short film of that name with Bruce Willis and Danny Trejo, directed by Robert Rodriguez. Nike Basketball's web teaser for the eight-minute video, coming next month, features a social twist. Fans who tweet #mambamoment can trigger exclusive content, be entered in a draw for a new pair of Nike Zoom Kobe VI kicks, and (the brand hopes) generate buzz on Twitter.  

It's a misleading headline, to be sure: "Glock Pistol Sales Surge in Aftermath of Arizona Shootings."

If the editors intended to make it appear as if Glock sales surged because consumers wanted the same gun that was used in the recent Arizona shootings, one might even call it maliciously misleading. But the Bloomberg report was technically correct: Glock sales in Arizona have surged following the incident... along with sales of all handgun brands. Glock was one of the best-selling gun brands before the incident, so a surge in sales overall means a comparatively larger surge in Glock sales. Rinse. Repeat.

More interesting is how Glock, a gun brand that just two decades ago cost "more than you make in a month," became one of the most mass-marketed brands in the U.S.Continue reading...

ABC's Dancing With the Stars crowns actress Jennifer Grey over Bristol Palin. 

AT&T offers "buy one get one" Black Friday deal (vs. Amazon's $50 each) on Windows Phone.

Bruce Willis pitches Russia's National Bank Trust.

CBS wins November TV sweeps in a big way.

Chrysler plans major upgrade of Indiana operations after President Obama's visit.

Cracker Barrel rides customer-service initiative.

Fox to use Hulu inventory for advertiser “make-goods.”Continue reading...

"We're not used car salesmen. We're trying to create a timeless brand." — Justin Timberlake explains his directorial debut: a series of commercials promoting his 901 Tequila, named for an area code in Timberlake's home state of Tennessee.

The spots are deliberately opaque, he says—spouting quotes by the likes of Benjamin Franklin, above—so as to exude sophistication (in case that wasn't as clear as his triple-distilled tequila).

Bruce Willis, taking the low road to JT's high-falutin' path, is taking his alcohol brand on tour and merrily poking fun at pretentious brand marketing.