Royal Dutch Shell, the number one company on Fortune’s Global 500 list, is threatening legal action against the Greenpeace network of environmental activists as the company forges ahead with plans to begin drilling for an estimated 90 billion barrels of Arctic oil in the next two decades.

Greenpeace, which is seeking to make the Arctic a global sanctuary from commercial and environmental exploitation, tweeted today, “As 1 million of you have signed up to #SavetheArctic, Shell threatens Greenpeace with legal action. http://act.gp/NGhcEg.”Continue reading...

There are a lot of product "placements" in Contagion, logos and names that appear in passing, backgrounds and without a great degree of consequence. A crack about Taco Bell here, a Mazda, Audi, or Chevy logo there. But there are really only two or three "brands" that find themselves the focus of the film, and one of them has genuine reason to be sick about the slanderous way Contagion portrays it.

"The Minnesota Department of Health was not officially involved with the film in any way," John Stieger, the department's communications director, told brandchannel. If you've seen the new #1 movie at the US box office, that shouldn't come as a surprise.Continue reading...

News Corp. shares tumble as company goes on PR offensive with print apology as News International's former head Rebekah Brooks was arrested Sunday, London's police chief quits and actor Jude Law claims his phone was hacked. Prime Minister David Cameron called in Parliament to deal with the scandal, as speculation rises about possible harm to Murdoch's US empire.

ABS by Alan Schwartz balks at design copyright protection.

Amana introduces new online shopping tool.

Australia's government launches campaign for carbon tax.

Borders faces liquidation.Continue reading...

The trend of getting film directors to create short films (aka branded entertainment) for luxe perfume brands continues with Guy Ritchie's just-released short for Dior Homme, starring Jude Law, a moody French model and a moody French capital, in Paris. Compare it with Martin Scorsese's short for Chanel's new men's fragrance after the jump.Continue reading...