Another traditional weight-loss brand is resorting to a radical change in its business model in an effort to avoid extinction by online dieting sites.

Nutrisystem has announced plans to sell a "5-Day Nutrisystem Jumpstart Your Weight Loss Kit" exclusively at 2,000 Walmart stores. It includes 15 entrees plus desserts, a free meal planner and program guide with access to free weight-loss counseling, all for the low, low price of $44.98.

"While there are many weight-loss products in the market, this is really the first of its kind—a true diet jumpstart in a box," Dawn Zier, Nutrisystem CEO, said in a press release.Continue reading...

Ladies, this is not your mother's weight-loss plan! Weight Watchers—which also lately has taken aim at men—and Slim-Fast are overhauling their approach to marketing in more significant ways than ever, as the dieting industry continues to grow but also has welcomed new forms of competition.

Slim-Fast's new approach is the more striking one, perhaps because the Unilever-owned brand has been dwindling steadily for years since it was synonymous with weight-loss products. Its new "Get What You Want" advertising campaign communicates the real reason women want to lose weight, and it has to do with sex appeal, not health and fitness.Continue reading...

Apple loses iPad Mini trademark, and finds a fan in Kim Jong-un as North Korea rattles saber and tensions rise with U.S., while increased China headaches include hacking threat and iPad regulation.

Discovery Communications expands global channel reach and launches scripted programming.

Novartis loses cancer drug patent battle in India.

Amazon buys Goodreads community-driven user reviews website.

AMC reveals new tagline and logo.

Armani hires Cate Blanchett for $10M campaign.

AT&T scores with March Madness Twitter campaign.Continue reading...

Born out of an all-too-common social faux pas in 1961—founder Jean Nidetch was mistakenly congratulated for being pregnant in a supermarket—Weight Watchers is about to turn 50. The original weight-loss brand now operates in about 30 countries with its trademark programs using a science-driven approach to help participants lose weight.

After her supermarket encounter, Nidetch, who weighed 214 pounds at the time, checked into an obesity clinic but became convinced there must be a better way to lose weight. She created a typewritten meal plan and shed 20 pounds in 10 weeks, followed by convening a small group of friends who met regularly to plan out menus to lose weight.Continue reading...

Yahoo! work-from-home edict by CEO Marissa Mayer sparks debate.

Barnes & Noble breakup possibility highlights leadership differences.

Weight Watchers sees workers push back over low pay.

Airbus considers adding assembly line for A350.

Alcatel bets on AT&T and Verizon to keep U.S.-market growth.

Amazon losing its edge in e-commerce satisfaction.

BP begins its trial in 2010 Gulf oil spill.

Diageo hopes to create frozen-cocktail frenzy in U.K.

Google is the most trusted online brand in India, followed by Facebook.

HP board signals more oversight of CEO.

Hooters launches new brand campaign.

IKEA pulls more meatballs over horse meat.Continue reading...

Weight Watchers, established in 1963, is the world’s leading provider of weight management services through a complex points system assigned to every food and caps on their intake. 

With 1.3 million members worldwide, attending 45,000 combined meetings each week Weight Watchers produces its own branded food products, totaling sales of $5 billion last year. Their newest program, Weight Watchers 360°, launched this month along with a new identity designed by Pentagram’s Paula Scher.Continue reading...

Just because Chobani has opened up a huge lead in the Greek-style category it invented — and that is reshaping the U.S. yogurt business — doesn't mean that others can't try to chip away. Dannon has grabbed a significant share after sensing the opportunity with Chobani's rapid rise.

Other players, big and small, also are attempting to make more noise and get their stakes of a Greek-style market that has been calculated at about $1.5 billion a year now and still growing by strong double-digits — even coming up in discussions of Greece's Eurozone crisis. Yoplait, Hain Celestial and the Pinkberry chain are among the brands that are making their own plays. Ben & Jerry's just revamped its frozen yogurt line to make Greek Yogurt the basis of the line. Fage and Chobani have a friend in U.S. senator Chuck Schumer.

The most closely watched Greek yogurt brand is Yoplait. The General Mills line, which has shared the top of the U.S. yogurt market with Dannon for many years, got a particularly late start in the Greek segment. But now it's launching 40 new yogurt products, and Greek yogurt will be the centerpiece of that rollout this summer.Continue reading...

Adidas releases spot featuring David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Derrick Rose, and Katy Perry, whose single ("Part of Me") is the featured soundtrack.

Apple products can now be found in half of all U.S. households.

Charles Barkley cross-dresses in new Weight Watchers campaign.

Facebook stops secondary market trading ahead of May IPO.

Jeremy Lin meets with ESPN employee fired over racist headline.

JetBlue's unhinged pilot charged with a criminal complaint.

Netflix appears to follow through with Qwikster plan after all.

News Corp. said to plan sports network to rival ESPN.Continue reading...