Hooters may be the first place consumers think of when the term “breastaurants” comes up, but a Texas eatery is aiming to change that.

Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill, which features big-breasted gals in bikinis and short shorts serving up food, hula hooping, and, wait for it—jumping on a trampoline—has armed itself in the battle of mammary-obsessed food chains. Bikinis has trademarked the term “breastaurants” and God help anybody who tries to use it without their permission. 

Take that, Twin Peaks, Mugs N Jugs, Tilted Kilt and, most specifically, Hooters!Continue reading...

Colorado is launching its biggest-ever branding campaign, and it's aimed at entrepreneurs rather than tourists. But so far the effort doesn't account for the 800-pound, weed-smoking elephant in the room.

The Rocky Mountain State is attempting to pitch itself as an entrepreneur's paradise under the new "Making Colorado" campaign commissioned by Gov. John Hickenlooper and led by Aaron Kennedy, founder of Noodles & Co. Colorado has a lot to build on in that regard: The state has always birthed tech and energy startups, and the Boulder area has long been one of the nation's hottest spots for better-for-you food startups.

But let's face it: Since November, any face that Colorado presents to the rest of America has to deal with the obvious issue of whether the state celebrates, allows or restricts marketing of the fact that it voted to legalize recreational marijuana use within its borders.Continue reading...

When a state or a city becomes synonymous with a tragedy or urban decline, how does it move forward? 

Colorado is the latest state to face this question in the wake of last summer's mass shooting in Aurora. As the nation grapples with gun control, mental illness and public safety after a rash of gun violence, Colorado is left with an issue of perception beyond its borders. 

"When something hits the press and it may not be good, Colorado gets known for that," Jeff Donaldson, account director for the state’s new brandCO program, told the Denver Post. "Our goal as a state should be to have a brand that rises above all that."Continue reading...

McDonald's franchise owners often are as savvy as brand executives, and perhaps a shade more entrepreneurial. Witness the case of the owner of three McDonald's franchises in suburban Dallas-Ft. Worth, whose better-for-you innovation could ripple throughout the chain.

No, it's not an unauthorized menu item like some smokin'-hot Texas barbecue version of McRib. And it may not be as high-tech as the design concept being piloted by McD's in France. What Jonathan Chan devised is an interactive nutritional kiosk that helps visitors to his restaurant in Richardson, Texas, to understand the nutritional value, or lack thereof, of everything on the menu and even to assist in planning their meals.Continue reading...

Accenture introduces global brand campaign.

Alamo trademark flap resolved in Texas.

Anna's Thins cookies adopt a new look.

Apple's iPad tested as voting device in Oregon, continues "App Store" fight with Amazon.

Best Buy ups holiday spending and introduces "Game On, Santa" campaign.

Boeing wins its biggest-ever commercial-jet deal even as mechanism for deal is criticized.

Cannes adds Mobile Lions award.

Coach pushes for China to become its No. 1 market within three years.

Deutsche Borse and NYSE seek to appease European Union.

Fiat introduces another TV commercial featuring Jennifer Lopez and its Gucci edition.Continue reading...

The statehouse in Austin, Texas, is exactly one foot taller than the U.S. Capitol Building, just so folks in the Lone Star State can claim some “bigger is better” notion. 

Whatever that extra foot means, one thing is clear: Don’t mess with the Texas government. The state’s Department of Transportation recently showed its heft by winning a lawsuit against an individual for the rights to DontMessWithTExas.com, according to Domain Wire News. 

The slogan was originally created in the 1980s as part of an anti-litter campaign, the site notes, but “the department has been more aggressive about protecting the trademark of late as people have started to disassociate the slogan with the anti-litter campaigns and it has brought on more of a generic meaning.” Previously, the DOT owned the rights to DontMessWithTexas.org.

Austin Business Journal reported recently that the Texas DOT attempted to halt the publication of a romance novel entitled, you guessed it, “Don’t Mess With Texas.” 

Domain News Wire notes that the DOT “made a big mistake in how it argued the case,” claiming that the domain name was registered in 1996, “which predated the federal trademark registration for the slogan,” but the domain actually wasn’t registered until after the trademark was registered.

Bottom line: Don't mess with Texas — or its slogans!

Amazon believes it has a currency that states will value — the promise of thousands of new jobs — in its intensifying efforts to avoid the imposition of state sales taxes, something that could become a significant blow to the business model that has helped the online retailer rank as one of history's biggest winners on the internet.

The latest offer is to California: a pledge to create 7,000 full-time jobs in the state over the next four years, mostly in new distribution centers ... if California will give Amazon a reprieve from the state's new internet-sales tax for the next three years.

Amazon's proposal to the Golden State follows its similar offer to Texas to create 4,000 jobs there. Amazon also wants Texas to stop chasing $269 million in "uncollected" sales taxes on past purchases, a matter that is in the courts. That may be why Amazon even sweetened its offer to Texas to 5,000 jobs.Continue reading...

Illinois currently offers more than 70 specialty license plates, such as for colleges or nonprofits or ones honoring military servicemen and women. A few more specialty plates may soon be coming to the Prairie State: ones with corporate advertisers.

The state is studying the prospect of raising revenue by selling ad space on license plates, according to the Peoria Journal Star. 

Democratic State Senator John Mulroe of Chicago successfully lobbied this spring for “a measure to have the secretary of state's office study whether the state could make money by allowing corporations to sponsor license plates,” the Journal Star reports.

Illinois would be following in the footsteps of Texas, which has been offering branded specialty plates — such as plates bearing the Dallas Mavericks' logo — since November 2009. Since then, Texas has raised $51,805 by selling 489 plates including logos from six companies, including RE/Max, Dr. Pepper, and Ford, the paper reports.Continue reading...