This year, the 85th Academy Awards takes on a new name with a younger tone, "The Oscars."

"We're rebranding it," Oscars co-producer Neil Meron told The Wrap. "We're not calling it 'the 85th annual Academy Awards,' which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way. It's called 'The Oscars.'"

Still pursuing a younger demographic despite the failure of James Franco and Anne Hathaway as co-hosts in 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences publicist Teni Melidonian said, "It is right for this show, but we could easily go back to using 'Academy Awards' next year."

"It'll be like the Grammys,” Meron added. “The Grammys don't get a number, and neither will the Oscars." The awards show hit a ratings high of 55 million in 1998, the year of Titanic, but have been on a decline ever since.Continue reading...

GM is buying back $200M shares from the U.S. government.

UBS fined $1.5 billion in growing Libor scandal.

Instagram backpedals following outcry on terms of service change enabling user images for ad purposes.

CW pulls plug on major placement platform with end of Gossip Girl.

DirecTV expands cross-platform reach.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg donates $500M to charity.

Grammys launches new social trivia game.Continue reading...

Motown icon Smokey Robinson, social media savvy celeb activist? That's right, the iconic crooner known for hits such as I Heard it Through the Grapevine this week launched Smoke Alarm, described as a “a social media-based emergency broadcast system for causes.” 

Robinson is asking people to “Donate your social media feeds and help sound the alarm when projects need attention.” In partnership with ad agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky and David Clark, the idea is to create "Cause Swarm" as people contribute to specific causes activated by hitting "send" on a "Smoke Alarm" from his Robinson’s already active Twitter account, @Smokey_Robinson.

"I want to promote the basic idea that all people should have equal access to simple things like food, water and medicine. My inspiration comes from icons of equality I have known over the years, like Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Robinson. "In this digital age, we have the tools to level the playing field for those in need, so I'm calling on my friends and fans to lend their voices to mine, so we can collectively make a difference."Continue reading...

Apple misses first earnings target since 2002, as iPhone sales disappoint (although Mac and iPad sales set new records).

Cheerwine expands US footprint with PepsiCo distribution deal.

GM is reportedly in talks to back a Cannonball Run remake by British director Guy Ritchie.

IBM named the greenest company in America by Newsweek.

James Franco suits up for Gucci.

Orbitz fined for misleading advertising.

RIM announces BBX OS for BlackBerry tablets and smartphones.

Yahoo beats estimates.

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock dropped by The Colbert Report to hype The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, opening next week. We'll have a review in a couple weeks as well as an interview with the director.

Nothing Spurlock said about advertising was as shocking as this billboard for AMC's zombie series The Walking Dead — on the side of a building housing a funeral parlor.

As for this weekend in product placement, we begin with Keanu Reeves in a hit — literally — by a Prius.Continue reading...

The 83rd Academy Awards came and went in a blur of glory and social media haze. As the New York Times' David Carr and A.O. Scott discuss in the above video, there wasn’t much “cultural consensus” as to where and who the broad mainstream audience is, but there was a lot of irony.

With host duties performed by a lackluster, visibly uncomfortable James Franco and a perky, eager-to-please energetic Anne Hathaway, the consensus around water coolers this morning is that there is no water cooler and Monday morning quarterbacking — if you were watching the Oscars, chances are you were also Facebooking or Tweeting the proceedings at the same time.

The Oscars encouraged this behavior, including directing viewers to Oscar.com for behind-the-scenes content during commercial breaks — a move that must have thrilled its advertisers. Co-host James Franco strolled onto stage checking his smartphone in one gag bit, while he tweeted the backstage proceedings throught the evening. Mark Ruffalo, nominated for best supporting actor in The Kids Are All Right, even pre-tweeted his acceptance speech – thanking all appropriate, as he did not anticipate winning.Continue reading...

In keeping with James Franco and Anne Hathaway's winking debut on Sunday night as the younger, hipper hosts of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, brands that will be advertising during Sunday night's Super Bowl of cinema will also reach out to younger, digitally savvy audiences.

The biggest tactic, of course: incorporating social media into their campaigns. It makes sense: in terms of ratings, reach, buzz and impact, including watercooler chatter the morning after, the Oscars is still one of the biggest TV and cultural events of the year. And many of those viewers will be plugged-in while watching — even more so than during the Super Bowl.Continue reading...

Advertising slots during this year's Academy Awards telecast on ABC have sold out. But just as last year, advertising rules apply, meaning "marketers still have to make sure certain ads featuring celebrities or celebrity voice-overs don't run near segments of the program that could feature those very same stars."

Last year, the prominent example of this rule in action was best actor nominee Jeff Bridges and his voiceover work for Oscar advertiser Hyundai (above).

This year, Bridges is the most prominent nominee to lend his talent to the, ahem, commercial sector. But he's far from the only one.

The nominees for Best Work in a Commercial Campaign (TV or Print) are:Continue reading...