While Old Navy is encouraging folks to do the Gobble this Thanksgiving, others are worried about how to cook their bird to perfection.

When you take a big bite of your turkey this Thanksgiving, there are likely 5,500 people hanging on your every bite (and would be happy to hand you a kitchen mitt if they could).

Whose the crowd that’s so invested in whether you find that fowl to be fair or not? The employees of Butterball, of course. And if you’re not enjoying your bird for any reason, you can be sure the folks at this North Carolina-based company would have some advice on how to fix things up.

They should know — they sell more than one billion pounds of turkey annually. Find out more in our Butterball profile — Happy Thanksgiving!

Old Navy's latest Black Friday-themed campaign "The Gobble" (above) is fresh, fun, and a massive improvement over those talking mannequins. In fact, it's so fun that Old Navy employees are actually "doing the gobble" in stores. Videos after the jump.Continue reading...

Here's an idea: With the national debt at (CLICK HERE for latest), our federal government should be looking for any and every opportunity to get money flowing into the treasury. Well, just a suggestion, but how about selling a branding opportunity for the annual Presidential turkey pardon?

Just think about the media exposure! On the day before thanksgiving, the President pardons one lucky bird and every suffering-a-slow-news-day media outlet in the nation runs a story and photo of the event. And after the event itself, the highest bidding brand would have the right to use the pardoned bird at media events and as a spokesbird for its products: "I was lucky to be spared. But if I had to be eaten, I'd want to be a Butterball bird!"

And, at the very least it would force Disney to pay the government for all the excellent exposure and endorsement it gets from the President of the Free World™ saying, every year, that the lucky turkey was going to Disneyland:

"'There are certain days that remind me of why I ran for this office,' Obama added. 'And then there are moments like this, where I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland.'"

Just sayin'.

For US Thanksgiving weekend, brandchannel will be on a light posting schedule. Tune in to brandchannel on Friday, November 27, for Abe Sauer's Black Friday updates.

Toys "R" Us launches new web site and smartphone app. [Econsultancy]

Butterball launches turkey talk phone and Facebook help page. [BrandFreak]

Sony Ericsson will allow Twitter uses to manipulate a real-life brand event. [MarketingWeek]

Targets new spokeswoman adds anxiety to the usual holiday stress. [AdFreak]