Sometimes a brand blazes a trail, only to find itself outrun by the competition. 

Back in 2006, entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, who made his name and a small fortune as a contestant on reality TV show, The Amazing Race, came up with a unique proposition for a new brand, TOMS Shoes. The business model: TOMS would donate a pair of shoes to a child who lived in poverty for every pair of shoes sold. The philanthropic concept quickly became a sensation that catapulted the company's brand awareness to superstar status.

Not surprisingly, other companies started to knock off the idea. The most egregious copycat has been a line of shoes called "BOBS" that Skechers introduced in 2010. BOBS not only look exactly like TOMS signature shoe, right down to the logo stitched on a visible exterior label, but Skechers also shamelessly followed TOMS' "one-for-one" model of giving away a pair of shoes for every pair sold.Continue reading...

Toys R Us is really aiming for this holiday season to bring in some big bucks. As a result, the company is hiring 13% more seasonal help than it did last year, hiring 45,000 temporary employees across the U.S.

Why the need for all the extra folks? Well, the retailer is planning to have 50 more pop-up shops than it did last year across the country  and it is, of course, very excited about the revenue possibilities for its new made-for-kids-tablet called Tabeo, a featured item on its 2012 Hot Toys List.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the store's proprietary $150 Tabeo is going to hit its stores, as planned, in October. Fuhu, the Taiwanese manufacturer of the kid-friendly Nabi tablet that Toys R Us sold before Tabeo, is attempting to block its sale with a lawsuit claiming intellectual property infringement.Continue reading...

As one potential war in China heats up, another is officially over, at least according to one brand.

"LEGO and BanBao Have Ended Their War" is the title of the press release sent out by BanBao Europe. The announcement celebrated a settlement between there two brands under which the duo will "seek a fair competition based on respect for each other's position."

If one didn't know any better, it might sound as if Banbao — less well known as Guangdong Jumbo Grand Plastic Moulding Industrial Co., Ltd. — had finally settled a corporate dispute between equals. But Banbao was a lot less conciliatory in more private statements.Continue reading...

The product placements in Men in Black 3 have not gone unnoticed. From Ford to Dunkin' Donuts to cheesy tabloids, the franchise cashed in with brands looking to associate with the men in black (and the fans who love them).

One product placement that is causing some confusion, however, is the Men in Black's trademark sunglasses. No, not Sony's battle over who is to pay for the audience's 3D glasses, but the sunglasses worn by Agents J and K and, well, younger K (pre-K?)

It's one of the more bizarre cases in product placement recently that results in an officially licensed product being a knock-off of a product featured on-screen and long associated with the movie franchise.Continue reading...