Apple dodges $9 billion in US taxes with bond deal.

Google named Advertiser of the Year. 

Volkswagen makes $10 million donation to the National Mall.

Adidas sales drop on weakening Reebok brand.

Barnes & Noble begins support of Google apps on Nook.

Beam sales rise because of "formula run" on Maker's Mark.

Diet Coke slims down its vending machines.

Ford adds jobs and raises capacity to make pick-up trucks.

Geritol seeks new life with younger consumers.

Huffington Post brings rapid-response "native" ads to its home page.Continue reading...

In addition to new campaigns for Ford's "Hello Again" music project for the Lincoln brand and Kraft's "We are the World"-like music video for its Miracle Whip dressing during the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, a host of other brands used the post-Super Bowl platform to make some noise.

Anheuser Busch InBev's Bud Light Platinum debuted its new new campaign by its new "creative director," Justin Timberlake, while Target also used the Grammys to kick off its tie-in with the singer's new album and promote its tie-ins with singer Pink and fashion designer Prabal Gurung:Continue reading...

Some 30-second blocks of Super Bowl airtime are being sold for as high as $4 million — a $500,000 increase from the top seller in last year's telecast, according to USA Today.

The research firm Kantar Media notes that the increase means that the price “is growing at three to five times the rate it did just a decade ago.” 

"No one is holding a gun to the heads of these advertisers," Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar, told USA Today. "Clearly, these are price increases the market is willing to bear." Swallen said he thinks the first 30-seconds-for-$5 million Super Bowl deal could air in 2016.

Those tuning in for the cola giants and other brand marketers suiting up for Game Day are in luck: The number of in-game ads has been going up, Swallen said.

One of the brands shelling out that kind of dough is M&M's, which had a much-heralded spot in the last year’s Super Bowl. M&M's won’t release its commercial or details of the ad in advance, according to a press release. However, the ad is tied to a new "Better With M" spot and social campaign that launched this week.Continue reading...

Apple seeks to create web radio Pandora rival as TV talks bog down with content companies.

Beyonce-backed House of Dereon fashion label sags.

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics reveals Katie Holmes campaign.

Cablevision refreshes Optimum brand.

Elizabeth Arden launches Nicki Minaj's perfume debut, Pink Friday.

Emporio Armani becomes first brand to partner with Spotify.

Fashion's Night Out brings out global fashionistas.

Ford expands offerings for Europe.

Grand Marnier launches experiential rooftop bubble bar in London.

IHOP partners with PepsiCo's Quaker Oats brand.Continue reading...

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...

Apple strikes pre-paid iPhone deal with Cricket as Foxconn woes continue.

BMW creates department-store feel at concept showroom in Paris.

BP reveals internal discord over oil spill estimates, and plans to sell stake in Russian venture.

Chrysler misses May sales target despite U.S. sales bump.

Corona invests in major outdoor and digital campaign for summer.

Disney names new film studio chairman.

Exxon Mobil plans major U.S. chemical plant.

Facebook sells "likes" in promoted posts move, and adds admin functions and post scheduling.

Formula One IPO may be delayed.Continue reading...

No brand wants to be caught on the wrong side of history, shifting consumer tastes or technological obsolescence. (See: Twinkies, BetaMax.)

So Mars, Inc. is bidding to get ahead of where the entire food industry seems to be going by vowing to stop selling chocolate products with more than 250 calories in them by the end of next year. It’s part of the company's ongoing corporate citizenship effort to improve the nutritional value of its products and to sell them in a responsible way.

Mars produces seven of the world’s 20 best-selling chocolate brands, including Snickers, Mars, Dove/Galaxy, M&M's, and non-chocolatey confections including Skittles and Juicy Fruit gum. Now, by deposing king-size chocolate bars, the 540-calorie king-size Snickers bar, for instance, will be a goner after next year. 

As Mars noted on its Facebook page, the calorie-cutting efforts are part of a bigger responsible marketing commitment the company made five years ago to promote nutrition — and stop buying ad time or space if more than one quarter of the audience was estimated to be under 12 years old.Continue reading...

Toyota teams with Marvel for a Yaris viral video, above.

Ford hooks up with the 2012 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue for product placement.

The king(size) Snickers bar is dead. Make way for the fun size.

Below: Coke and ScarJo, Will Ferrell, Jeremy Linsanity and more.Continue reading...