Air New Zealand in-flight video promotes Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" in latest marketing tie-in for the movie.

ABC News files motion to dismiss "pink slime" suit.

Apple signals Tim Cook era with management shakeup, reports R&D spending up 40% in 2012 (although it was still outspent by Microsoft), plans to open up to 35 stores next year, confirms iPad mini built-in speakers.

Honda targets Japanese women with pink "She's" car.

Barclays faces two new U.S. probes.

Caesars packs up casino in Macau.

Campbell hires new CMO to reach Millennials.Continue reading...

Denny's has partnered with the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for a Hobbit-themed line of menu items. Insert your "second breakfast" joke of choice here.

The partnership has been the source of some jokes. But Denny's has approached the tie-in with some unique, even brave strategies. One of which could easily have blown up in its face.Continue reading...

Air New Zealand has always had a good sense of humor and a willingness to try new things. A few years ago, the airline ran an ad featuring naked employees with uniforms painted onto their bodies. Then the airline introduced a sleazy mascot named Rico that it thankfully killed off (but not without grabbing some attention with the death, of course).

The airline with the social media fairy just announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that it has signed a two-film co-branding deal with New Line Cinema and MGM for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, which will have it using Hobbit-branded aircraft, according to Marketing Magazine.

New Zealand, of course, is where the majority of principal photography was done for the film. Fans of Peter Jackson's earlier Lord of the Rings trilogy, which also struck a marketing partnership with Air New Zealand, often fly the airline to get over to New Zealand to see where some of their favorite scenes were put on film.Continue reading...

The annual San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) kicks off today, and as ever, it's a massive promotional platform for brands.

Founded as the "Golden State Comic Book Convention" in 1970 by a group of San Diegan comic book fans, the annual fanfest has evolved to include video games, toys and other forms of genre entertainment. That's why Hollywood beats a path south to the show every year — to generate buzz among the estimated 250,000 comic book, sci-fi, fantasy, anime, and video game fans hitting town for the four day pop-culture fix.

One of the biggest movies being touted this year: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, which marks the cast's last appearance as Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner hyping the Nov. 16th final bow with a 1pm ET (above) panel. Also red-hot: Iron Man 3, with Robert Downey Jr. and co-stars on hand to promote the movie scheduled for May 3rd of next year.Continue reading...

The Hobbit Pub in England’s Southampton serves up a slew of drinks named after various J.R.R. Tolkien characters and creations. And that didn't sit well with the producers of the film of the same name, the final installment of Peter Jackson's Tolkien series that's due for release in December.

The Guardian reported on Wednesday that the pub was given until the end of May to rebrand and drop the Hobbit moniker in a legal warning issued by the Saul Zaentz Company, producer of the film. But a mighty defender has successfully defended the place. No, it’s not Gandalf. It’s actor Stephen Fry, the British wit who is currently shooting the film of the same name.Continue reading...

If comic book, animation and movie fans were excited by the first look at the posters and trailers for The Adventures of Tintin that were released in May, then their heads may have exploded today.

Ahead of the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, Paramount and Columbia Pictures today released the first full-length trailer for the upcoming Steven Spielberg-directed and Peter Jackson-produced film, showing more of the animated effects than before. It's already got fans (and pros) buzzing about how to describe the animation.

All things Tintin: that's what's trending on Twitter today, after Paramount and Columbia Pictures released the trailer (watch it below) for the highly anticipated movie The Adventures of Tintin on Apple's website. 

Directed by Steven Spielberg, co-presented and -produced by his fellow director Peter Jackson, co-scripted by Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, and based on the classic Herge comic, the live action adaptation for the big screen has fans and critics salivating for glimpses ahead of its December 23rd release.

Also whetting their appetites: the just-released movie posters, below.Continue reading...

What will be the big win at the 2013 Oscars? If the viral success of the video above is any indication, expect a clean sweep by Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Part 1.

Trending on YouTube and Facebook, this 10-minute behind-the-scenes video takes fans on the New Zealand set of Jackson's highly anticipated new movie with the director himself.

After he posted this video on his Facebook page, which has more than 219,000 likes, the video has received almost 5,000 comments. Cue the fan frenzy!Continue reading...