Put all that talk of concussions and what Joe Paterno knew and when and just how Tim Tebow is going to fit into the New York Jets offense, real football is coming soon. Actual bodies wearing actual pads in actual games will soon be filling up America’s TV screens and you can be sure that marketers are getting ready for some pigskin action.

Fantasy football from Yahoo! got underway today and big brand names were all over it. Citi, Miller Lite, Snickers, Toyota, and Visa all found ways to get their names onto the Yahoo! Fantasy Football pages in one way or another, whether it is the Toyota Hall of Fame: Legends of Fantasy Football or the Visa Stat Tracker. Snickers and Miller Lite have both selected to sponsor content that is “personalized” to each individual fantasy user. They’ll all benefit from Yahoo!’s attempts to push their fantasy users to keep up with their teams across a variety of platforms, including Connected TVs and mobile devices, a company release notes. Continue reading...

PepsiCo executives were assailed for having let Diet Coke usurp their flagship brand to take second place, behind Coca-Cola, in U.S. soft drink sales in 2011. How they marketed — or, rather, didn't market — Pepsi was flagged by some observers as part of the problem.

Well, the company got the message. And among the many recent indicators of that — including Pepsi's major sponsorship of The X Factor, its endorsement relationship with Nicki Minaj, and the shaking up of its upper management under CEO Indra Nooyi — may be that, when Super Bowl XLVII reaches halftime on February 3 at the Superdome in New Orleans, Pepsi today confirmed reports that it's taking over as sponsor of the iconic halftime show.

"Pepsi's deep-rooted heritage with the Super Bowl and with music truly makes this relationship a natural fit," Adam Harter, PepsiCo Beverages' VP of consumer engagement, said in a press release. "As the most-watched and highly anticipated entertainment event of the year, the Super Bowl Halftime Show is right at the heart of sports and music."Continue reading...

PepsiCo today announced a multi-year relationship with the Pittsburgh Steelers to be the NFL team's exclusive "non-alcoholic beverage, salty snacks and sports fuel provider."

The deal marks the Steelers' first such partnership, and gives PepsiCo the rights to exclusive selling, dispensing and serving at Heinz Field; fixed stadium signage; venue and team sponsor assets; integration into the team's mobile, TV and digital assets; and local media and retail promotional opportunities.

The stadium conversion will be complete by the start of the Steelers' 2012 season. PepsiCo is also introducing a limited-edition commemorative Pepsi MAX can in honor of the Steelers' 80th anniversary, available throughout Pennsylvania beginning in the fall. That's not PepsiCo's only limited-edition commemorative can.

PepsiCo is preparing to roll out “a new malt-flavored version of its Mountain Dew soda” that will appear in select 7-Eleven and Kroger stores, according to CSPnet.com.

The gold-tinted premium version of Mountain Dew just received trademark approval to be called Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold and will appear in refrigerator cases in late August in a few Midwestern cities as well as Denver and Charlotte, N.C.Continue reading...

Archie Comics celebrates gay marriage in new cover.

Bristol-Myers to buy Inhibitex for $2.5 billion.

CBS introduces all-new CBS This Morning show.

Cadillac unveils ATS small sedan as import-fighter at Detroit Auto Show, which signals a turnaround for the industry.

Chick-fil-A cuts calories in kids' meals.

CES loses clout as tech-industry platform.

Current TV and Keith Olbermann make up following election coverage dispute.

Denny's promotes healthier media options.

Disney marketing head MT Carney departs.

Dow sponsorship of London 2012 Olympics continues to raise hackles.Continue reading...

The flagship radio station for the Pittsburgh Steelers introduced the Terrible Towel back in 1975 just before the playoffs got started. Before that fateful game, team members and local media weren’t huge fans of the thing. However, by game’s end, a 28-10 win over the Baltimore Colts, a stadium full of towels were being waved frantically about. With a Super Bowl win that year, the Steelers cemented the rally towel into American sports culture.

From the beginning, sales of the towels and any Towel-related items, such as T-shirts, benefited the Allegheny Valley School Foundation, which provides funds to help people with intellectual and developmental difficulties.Continue reading...

Move over, Mini Darth — Daddy's back (Chewbacca, too) for Currys PC World in the UK.

Lingerie brand Fig Leaves launches interesting London Tube interactive campaign.

Click through for more seasonal fun.Continue reading...

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall may think God is the only judge, but that hasn’t stopped him from filing a federal lawsuit against HanesBrands Inc.

He's suing the parent company of Champion athletic apparel for more than $1 million over a Twitter-triggered dispute about why the company cut short an endorsement deal he had with Champion, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.Continue reading...

Punxsatawney Phil and his Groundhog’s Day celebration on Gobbler’s Knob in Western Pennsylvania have had a following of sorts for many years.

The 1993 romantic comedy, Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, upped the town’s annual event and profile significantly.

Today, mobile-phone users can sign up and receive texts to find out if Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter or an early spring.

Phil and the top-hatted local officials who carry him around on Groundhog Day have become so recognizable that a cable network's use of him in a Super Bowl TV commercial — without asking permission — revealed just how much Phil means to the good people of of Punxsatawney, PA.Continue reading...