Frito-Lay's Cheetos brand Crunchy Flamin' Hot chips may be free of gluten-free and trans fats, but some school officials feel it's free of any redeeming value whatsover and are moving to ban it. The New York Times Well blog reports that "School districts in three states are waging a battle against (the) spicy snack that is so laden with artificial ingredients it leaves a trail of red fingerprints behind."

What has school administrators in Pasadena, Calif., Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Rockford, Illinois, up in arms?

...some school districts say the chips are too high in calories, salt and fat, and too spicy for most children. Teachers and parents have complained that the artificial coloring has children leaving behind bright red fingerprints in their classrooms and on their clothing. And emergency room doctors say they have seen patients complaining of stomach pain after eating hot Cheetos, and they warn that eating the chips in excess – because of the bright food dye they contain – may cause discolored stool that can lead to unnecessary hospital visits.

The PepsiCo-owned Frito-Lay brand "has said that it does not specifically market Hot Cheetos to small children, nor does it sell its snack products directly to schools." A current promotion with Ubisoft's Just Dance Game featuring its Chester Cheetah mascot, for instance, is aimed at kids 13 and older.

Below, watch a video tribute ("Hot Cheetos & Takis") by some kids, which has racked up more than 3.5 million views on YouTube since it was posted in August:Continue reading...

Penn State players, alumni and other supports are in shock today following the NCAA's unprecedented actions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal: a $60 million fine, a four-year college bowl ban and 40 scholarships axed, in addition to erasing all 14 seasons of victories under late coach Joe Paterno. The move follows a damning report by former FBI director Louis Freeh that accused the university of enabling former Penn State football coach Sandusky's crimes.

The NCAA's executive committee chair Ed Ray stated at a press conference, "The historically unprecedented actions by the NCAA today are warranted by the conspiracy of silence that was maintained at the highest levels of the university in reckless and callous disregard for the children. There is incredible interest in what will happen to Penn State football. But, the fundamental story of this horrific chapter should focus on the innocent children and the powerful people who let them down." Are the NCAA sanctions excessive in your opinion? Post a comment below. (Update: Click here for Penn State president Rodney Erickson's response.)

Pearson Education, the educational publishing brand, is under fire following a botched series of standardized exam questions now roiling public schools across New York State — and it's only year one of a five-year, $32 million contract between the publisher and the state.

As Gail Collins opined in Sunday's New York Times, it wasn't just the weirdness of the questions — more on that in a moment — but the debate over the commercialization of education and the control of a single brand, in this case Pearson, over kids' futures. Collins wrote, "We have turned school testing into a huge corporate profit center, led by Pearson, for whom $32 million is actually pretty small potatoes. Pearson has a five-year testing contract with Texas that’s costing the state taxpayers nearly half-a-billion dollars."Continue reading...

Jamba Juice keeps on spreading its brand mojo in new places, now including American schools and the supermarket tea aisle.

"Whatever it is that defines you, Jamba Juice wants to be part of helping you live a healthier and more wholesome life," Julie Washington, SVP and recently named chief brand officer of the California-based smoothie chain, told brandchannel. "We're trying to make sure everyone knows the wealth and breadth of Jamba's food and beverage offerings."

Jamba, which has an endorsement deal with tennis pro Venus Williams, has been in expansion mode beyond its smoothie menu for some time now, including introducing oatmeal and flatbreads, expanding into South Korea and the Philippines, diversifying into coconut water and CPG goods for stores. Lately, its gambits have included acquiring Talbott Teas and testing an in-school-outlet concept, in addition to new fresh-squeezed juice blends.

"Two years ago, our biggest competition probably could have been considered McDonald's, because they were getting into smoothies," said Washington, who was Jamba's general manager of consumer products before moving earlier this year to the new branding post. "Today, people talk about Starbucks," she added, as Jamba's main rival because the company began selling its recently acquired Evolution juice line in its coffee stores and in a standalone store in Bellevue, Wash., last week.Continue reading...

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville is currently listed as the 46th best national public university on the highly influential U.S. News & World Report annual rankings, a listing that prospective students and their parents are constantly checking and rechecking while trying to figure out their futures.

For those of you keeping score at home, that puts the school that launched Peyton Manning's football career into a dead tie with the University of Oregon, University of Oklahoma, University of New Hampshire, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Kansas, Florida State, and, if that weren’t enough, North Carolina State-Raleigh.

But who wants to be 46th? Not the University of Tennessee, that’s for sure. Last year, when it was ranked 47th, the university set itself a goal to get into the top 25. Clemson, Rutgers, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities can do it so why can’t they? A major rebranding effort that launched this week should help get them there.Continue reading...

Jamba Juice is at it again. As another way to propel the healthy-food innovator into a $1-billion global "lifestyle" brand, Jamba Juice wants to tap into the potentially fertile U.S.-school market with a self-serve-smoothie concept called JambaGo.

It's hard to keep up with all the ways that CEO James D. White has been spurring the QSR chain's growth and broadening its brand transformation. In last month's third-quarter earnings statement alone, the company disclosed plans to extend Jamba-branded CPG products across 28,000 retail outlets to gain nationwide distribution, and the signing of a new partnership with Bare Fruit to produce three varieties of bake-dried, all-natural, 100-percent-fruit chip snacks, in a new category for Jamba.

Nation's Restaurant News reports that Jamba Juice has already opened about 30 pilot locations of JambaGo, which takes up roughly the space of a soda-fountain beverage dispenser. It offers branded packaged products as well as the option of several pre-blended smoothies that White said rival the blended-to-order quality of those made at the chain's retail outlets.Continue reading...