A beer can memorializing the US Army's victory in World War II is not unthinkable. A beer can memorializing the US Army's victory in World War II targeted solely at the Chinese market is a little less likely. Yet, there it is.

"World War Two Edition in memory of US Army" reads the English on the side of a green Pabst Blue Ribbon can now on sale at select groceries in China. Under a stoic photo of a helmet-clad soldier's face, the exclamation "Yes we can!"

The "Yes we can!" cans come in a variety of US Army soldiers, including grizzled guy on a beachhead, grizzled guy on a battlefield, and grizzled guy introspectively looking heavenward as a (French?) town behind him burns.Continue reading...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the president of the bakers union in court-ordered mediation with Hostess Brands said he's "not too optimistic" that a settlement will be reached or the company's liquidation plan (now adjourned to 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday) reversed:

In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union President Frank Hurt, who’s not attending the mediation being held in New York Tuesday afternoon, said he’s heard "not a word" about how the talks are going. But he doesn’t think a deal will be reached to head off the Twinkie maker’s liquidation because his members aren’t prepared to take the labor concessions Hostess says it needs to survive.

Will brand loyalists have more success convincing President Obama to nationalize Twinkies — or will Pabst ride to the rescue and save Twinkie the Kid? Stay tuned.

Update: The announcement that mediation failed came at 7:08 p.m. ET: "Hostess Brands Inc. announced today that a mediation today with the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union was unsuccessful. The Company will have no further comment until a hearing scheduled for tomorrow at 11 a.m., EST, before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York"

[Image via]

A little bit of the heat is off Four Loko as lawmakers are now focused on Pabst/Colt 45 Blast, a new energized, high alcohol content 23.5 ounce beverage that is equivalent to quaffing about five beers.

While Four Loko became a video favorite without celebrity endorsements, Blast launched in April with a high-profile partner out of the gate in Snoop Dog. An alderman and a youth group are already trying to curb sales of the beverage on Milwaukee, WI.

In Durham, NC, activists have made it a racial issue, with one minister telling the press, "They’re trying to commit genocide on the hip hop generation; their bus is really a gas chamber on wheels."

Is it all over for these mind-erasing party drinks? Maybe not.Continue reading...

Executives usually don’t badmouth their former companies, but the ones that are no longer with Pabst Blue Ribbon after it was sold last year to billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos and his two sons don’t mince words.

“If our core PBR drinker knew that what they were drinking is owned by guys like these, it's the last beer they'd want to drink,” stated the former director of marketing to the Chicago Tribune.

And he’s not alone. “It was what the brand stood for, which was that we embrace people for what they are, their creativity and specialness,” said Kevin Kotecki, who was CEO from 2005 until he quit in November, to the Trib. “I want it to fail,” adds Bryan Clarke, former VP of marketing.

Why the trashtalking? These are the execs "who helped breathe life into the company’s stale brands," such as PBR, Schlitz and Old Style. Now, they're on a new campaign, speaking out to save the brands they loved and labored to resurrect.Continue reading...

Apple signs cloud deal with Warner Music as Google reportedly in talks with music service Spotify. 

Android called up by the US Army.

Kate Middleton reportedly strikes "obey" from Royal Wedding vows.

McDonald's expresses shock at employee non-action during beating of customer in Baltimore.

Muammar Gaddafi wants NY Met's Costume Institute honor.

Pabst sees more political pressure on marketing of Blast by Colt 45.Continue reading...

AT&T argues to US regulators that T-Mobile deal will promote competition.

Amazon glitch that hobbled websites also a setback for cloud computing.

American Express teams with Facebook for small-business contest.

Apple sees consumer enthusiasm grow in China as Greenpeace names it the “least green” tech company for relying on coal.

Chipotle hiring practices come under federal investigation.

General Mills tries Groupon in first packaged-goods partnership for the online-discount site.Continue reading...

In a bid to lure younger viewers, Major League Baseball's new advertising campaign highlights humor over action, featuring players such as San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson, who continues riffing on his "Fear the beard" MLB 2K11 game spots. 

The league introduced the new spots in tandem with the start of the 2011 season on March 31st. The previous theme, “Beyond Baseball,” has been replaced with the phrase “MLB Always Epic,” reinforced with a microsite of the same name.Continue reading...

Brandchannel readers have seen China mentioned numerous times of late. The reason: China's robust economy hasn't slowed. Even in the face of a global recession, retail sales grew more than 15% in 2009, according to official Chinese statistics. Consumers in what is now the world's second biggest economy are hungry for quality goods, and that makes the Asian giant a hotbed of brand activity.

Just in the last month, we've reported on Levi's new brand in China (dENiZEN), Merck's joint venture to market vaccines in China, Pabst beer's upmarket offering in China, GM's new Chinese car brand (Baojun), the launch of a new Hermes brand (Shang Xia), and Burberry's Chinese growth strategy.

With all of this activity, you have to wonder whether Chinese consumers are becoming, well, a little jaded. Indeed, the UK's Telegraph reports that, despite the frenetic retail activity, "the underlying hard data shows that margins are being increasingly squeezed by rising costs and intensified competition."

Of even greater concern, perhaps, is the fact that "shoppers are simply no longer wowed by any new launch."Continue reading...