There’s lots of hoopla going around to celebrate the Rolling Stones turning 50. Concerts are coming up next week in London and in early December in Newark, New Jersey. A new 3-disc, 50-song greatest-hits box set, GRRR!, comes out next week as well. A new documentary about the band, Crossfire Hurricane, is hitting HBO and the BBC and theaters next week, joining another documentary on the band that's now playing theaters, Charlie Is My Darling.

And keep your eyes peeled for the massive Stones coffee-table book. Right about now, you can’t escape the Stones — heck, you can even drink up to Mick, Keith and the boys with a special line of drinks being sold in Japan.Continue reading...

Activision goes bigger with Skylanders line extension and marketing effort.

AIG pays $1.7 billion for ING Malaysia.

ANA conference poised to set attendance record.

Android robot is a hit with 3-D printers.

Audi and BMW starting to leave behind Mercedes-Benz in global premium-auto race.

BAE in play for U.S. buyers as report says EADS merger failed because of discord among participating European governments.

BP moves closer to overall settlement of Gulf spill as Louisiana blames company for perma-sheen.Continue reading...

You've heard of guerrilla marketing — how about gorilla marketing? The Rolling Stones have a greatest hits album that's being released on Nov. 12 called GRRR!, featuring a gorilla on the cover with the band's iconic "big lips logo" superimposed on its face. So don’t be alarmed when you see large images of the cheeky gorilla popping up around the world to promote the album.

The gorillas are taking over 50 cities and 3,000+ locations around the globe, being tagged on such landmarks as Sydney's Opera House, New York’s Empire State Building and London’s Elizabeth Tower (that’s Big Ben to all of you who missed the renaming for Her Majesty). They can be seen in 3D augmented reality via mobile devices that have downloaded UView's app, so fans can "watch the stunning GRRR! artwork fully realized in 3D animation right before their eyes .... some exciting content and have the chance to enter an exclusive competition plus pre-order a copy of GRRR!"

As part of the marketing stunt that's billed as the "biggest global Augmented Reality music campaign" to date, the Stones are encouraging fans to take pics of the gorillas and tweet them with the #GRRR! hashtag to the Stones’ Twitter feed, @RollingStones. The photos will also show up on an interactive wall on the Rolling Stones website.

That #GRRR hashtag is more commonly used on Twitter, by the way, to express frustration — which is what real gorilla lovers are feeling.Continue reading...

Adidas gets big boost in buzz from soccer's Euro 2012.

Aereo stays operating while TV networks sue, judge rules.

Airbus nabs $17 billion in orders at big air show.

Amazon weighs cutthroat market in smartphone decision.

Apple finds China jumping the gun on iPhone 5 orders.

Barclays former CEO could face US Congress.

Burberry finds sales momentum slowing.

Cartier sees slowdown in China.Continue reading...

The description on this video by Omega, offical timekeeper of 25 Olympic Games, says it all: "It's been 80 years since OMEGA first timed an Olympic Games, and as Official Timekeeper for London 2012, OMEGA will once again bear witness to Olympic glory. It has also been 50 years since the Rolling Stones became a band and 31 years since "Start Me Up" first entered the charts! To mark these occasions, OMEGA has released an extended Olympic Games-themed television commercial (a short version has also been released). The footage features the Rolling Stones' classic hit "Start Me Up", remixed especially for the commercial by producer Don Was. The on-screen footage features Chinese diver Qiu Bo, U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin, British heptathlete Jessica Ennis, U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay, South African swimmer Chad Le Clos and U.S. pole vaulter Jenn Suhr — all Olympic hopefuls and OMEGA brand ambassadors. The focus is on the athletes' routines and concentration in the pivotal minutes and seconds before competition, a moment in time for each athlete that can set the tone for a potentially life-changing performance. Join the conversation on Twitter by using #StartMeUp and by following OMEGA on http://twitter.com/omegawatches" ("Start Me Up" was only used once before in a commercial, for Microsoft's Windows 95 launch.)

Below, watch the Omega London 2012 Countdown Clock in London's Trafalgar Square: 

"The OMEGA Countdown Clock starts ticking in Trafalgar Square, London. Swiss watchmaker OMEGA is the Official Timekeeper for the London Olympics 2012 and the OMEGA countdown clock will show the days, hours, minutes and seconds remaining to the start of the Opening Ceremony. OMEGA sport watches are favoured wherever timekeeping is essential and the Swiss watchmaker duly has a long history of involvement with the Olympic Games. The video shows some of the evening's events and features interviews with the Olympic host city's mayor, Boris Johnson, and sports personalities who were on hand to celebrate."

Rocawear's first ever TV commercial features founder Jay-Z, above. In other celebrity brandcasting today, Burger King's new commercials feature Mary J. Blige, David Beckham, Jay Leno, and Salma Hayek promoting BK's 10 new menu items, its biggest menu expansion since 1954, which debuts today.Continue reading...

Google Music is now live to the public, with Google+ integration and a library of 8 million songs (soon to be 13 million) via the Android market. Google's cloud-based online music store, which was announced as a beta service in May, will compete for digital downloads with Apple's iTunes and Amazon's growing library of online music. It also challenges Apple's music dominance by serving the 200 million estimated Android phone users just in the U.S.

Google commented in a blog post, "Google Music is about discovering, purchasing, sharing and enjoying digital music in new, innovative and personalized ways." It's launching with music from Universal Music Group, EMI Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Merlin Network — but no deal has been reached (so far) with Warner Music Group, whose catalog represents about 20% of the world's music inventory.Continue reading...

Bacardi Oakheart: Spiced Rum for the Strong of Character

Bacardi is hoping "Oak and Coke" will be a drink order heard across the globe as it launches its new Bacardi Oakheart, a spiced rum with a “distinctly masculine, smoky edge” aimed at the young male market. The launch will be supported in the U.S. by the “Oakheart Challenge,” a series of events and competitions, presumably for distinctly masculine men. Apparently, 2,700 names were considered before Bacardi settled on “Oakheart,” which refers to the barrels in which the rum is aged and has overtones implying "strength of character.” Manly men, get ready: Bacardi Oakheart will be available in the U.S. in September.Continue reading...