New York mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils $12 million ad campaign (above) for Mayors Against Illegal Guns that lobbies for background checks to reduce gun violence, while NYC's municipal data geek squad makes headlines.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz defends same-sex marriage support to shareholders as brand expands loyalty rewards to other retailers.

PepsiCo shares jump on Mondelez merger speculation sparked by Telegraph story which Pepsi "downplays."

Apple acquires indoor GPS startup WiFiSLAM for mapping, patents iPhone drop protection technology and faces EU scrutiny following iPhone and iPad distribution complaints — and may report first quarterly dip since 2003.

FTC "pay for delay" generic drug case, set to go before US Supreme Court on Monday, will be closely watched by pharmaceutical industry and economists.

Below: BlackBerry, Blockbuster, Dell, Diageo and other brands in the news —Continue reading...

At top: Attention art directors looking for something new and cool. Check out the perspective art of this Beijing Chemical Engineering University student. 

China is the second largest economy in the world and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse)—but who's got the time?! Here's the week's reads that will make you look like a keen China observer in case you find yourself immersed in a cultural conversation.

This week: ad spend... what China wants in 2013... suspicions about VW's recall... Apple... Buick's recall... Microsoft on Taobao... BMW partnerships... one evil mechanic's genius business development idea... Gangnam grannies take on Harlem noodle shake... and more.Continue reading...

YouTube is celebrating the WWF's global Earth Hour event today with a visual twist. All video-watchers today will see a light switch above each video player, to the left of the video name and beneath a special Earth Hour logo. Click the switch to view the video in the dark via a black background, just as Earth Hour is asking consumers to switch off for their light for an hour tonight, starting at 8:30pm.

Below, how Coca-Cola is supporting Earth Hour.Continue reading...

8:30pm on Saturday, March 26th marks the fifth Earth Hour, an annual switch-off eco-event that was started as a single-city event (Sydney) by the WWF and the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in 2007.Continue reading...