(RED) has announced (RED)Music, a place to buy exclusive tickets and packages from top artists and a centerpiece of the organization's inaugural (RED) Rush to Zero campaign, running June 1-10 to raise funding and awareness to deliver an AIDS Free Generation by 2015.

“The virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is part of the eight Millennium Development Goals, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by the target date of 2015,” said the press release.Continue reading...

Amazon plans to lend Harry Potter e-books.

Apple will help upgrade Foxconn factories in China.

AT&T sees regulatory logjam delay deals in wireless.

Betsey Johnson confirms plans to liquidate.

CBS sues ABC alleging new reality series rips off Big Brother.

Chuck E. Cheese plans to test gluten-free products.

Coca-Cola finds its Hellenic unit hit by perfect political and economic storm.Continue reading...

The Olympics are coming to the United Kingdom and chocolate maker Cadbury, which is based in Birmingham, England, would like to give back a little something special to a few of the Queen’s loyal subjects in celebration.

Cadbury, an official sponsor of the London 2012 Games, has a few extra tickets to the Opening Ceremonies but they aren’t just going to wrap them up inside their candy bars like something out of Willie Wonka. Instead, the candy brand has teamed up with the Shazam music app and ITV to take consumers on a multimedia adventure.

Cadbury will first air an advertisement on the finale of ITV's Britain’s Got Talent on May 12 that asks viewers to use Shazam apps to identify a song, according to Marketing Week. The call to action invites viewers to “unwrap a virtual Cadbury chocolate bar to find out whether they have won tickets” or not. (Britain's Got Talent, on a sidenote, has had to suspend mobile voting due to technical issues.)

Marketing Week notes that ITV and Shazam recently partnered so that consumers can “interact with ads shown on the ITV Family of channels” and “use the audio-recognizing application to enter competitions, get additional information about a brand or download free music.” Cadbury is the first brand to take advantage of the possibilities of this new partnership.Continue reading...

As it has done for the past three Academy Award ceremonies, jcpenney will hit the Oscars red carpet by promoting its recent "brand refresh," showing off that it's had a little work done (new logo, single-monikered lowercase name) and is making a comeback in true Hollywood fashion.

New brand face Ellen DeGeneres will be featured in five 30-second commercials (watch "Changing Room" above and a sneak peek at others set in the Wild West, Victorian England and ancient Rome, below) that will air in North America during ABC's telecast on Sunday night.

Other brands debuting new campaigns at the 84th annual Academy Awards include Hyundai's new Wes Anderson commercials, and a glamorous spot for the sixth-generation SL roadster by Mercedes-Benz.Continue reading...

Like one-third of the Super Bowl advertisers this year, Tide is partnering with Shazam in a first for a P&G brand to offer a free download of a tune: Savoir Adore's cover of Men Without Hats' Pop Goes the World, a nod to the new Tide Pods tagline, "Get ready to pop your laundry." The yet-to-be released commercial will debut during the Oscars telecast on ABC Sunday night.

Find out more about how the dissolvable detergent packs work below.Continue reading...

Mobile was the big winner in the Super Bowl this year, as marketers and consumers seized the second-screen experience.

“Caring about eyeballs was your grandfather’s ad agency,” commented Dan Israel, Atlanta-based strategy lead for the mobile practice at SapientNitro, to Mobile Marketer.  “What matters today is how many people with smartphones can be gathered in one location at one time. The Super Bowl rules in this category.” 

This Super Bowl was a huge coming out party for Shazam, the mobile app that enables audio tagging to link to content and offers, which partnered with almost half of Super Bowl 46 advertisers, representing 1 million giveaways, this year.

Shazam linked to commercials by Acura, Best Buy (which offered $50 gift cards), Cars.com (which donated $1.00 per Shazam tag to charity), Bud Light, Disney (John Carter trailer), Fed Ex, GE, Honda, Pepsi, Teleflora, and Toyota to unlock exclusive content and coupons. Some of the offers:Continue reading...

Bud Light released two sneak peeks at its Super Bowl plans for Sunday: another cute dog spot (this one named Weego) and, below, a teaser for the brand's Shazam app for the halftime show.Continue reading...

One of the YouTube comments on the 60-second version of Toyota's Super Bowl spot (Camry Effect: "Connections") above: "I love how they show there older cars in real, used condition; paint flaking, dents, imperfections, eta. This is the greatest Toyota commercial yet."

The official description: "'Connections" is an expansive film made up of real and fictional stories. There are nearly 7 million Camry stories out there. Yours could start on Sunday, February 5th." The Camry is also the focus of a Super Bowl XLVI giveaway contest, which is powered by Shazam's mobile app.

Check out Toyota's other Super Bowl XLVI spots below.Continue reading...