Adobe abandons boxed software for the cloud.

Samsung keeps hammering Apple in new ad strategy for Galaxy S4.

Tim Tebow tops Forbes' new list of most influential athletes.

Acer plans to launch windows tablet in June.

Aereo asks judge to prevent new lawsuits by CBS.

Audi considers building plant in Brazil but seeks clarity from government.

Disney plans new Star Wars games through Electronic Arts.

Estee Lauder sets sights on big September fragrance launch.

Facebook made the Fortune 500 list for the first time.Continue reading...

JCPenney hires Y&R to help with marketing turnaround.

Fiat weighs listing on New York Stock Exchange and considers IPO after it completes merger with Chrysler.

Amazon develops device to stream video to homes.

Burger King expands delivery service.

Carfax hit with antitrust suit by dealerships.

Dr Pepper Snapple finds RC Cola Ten success a pleasant surprise.

Fisker Automotive takes bludgeoning on Capitol Hill.Continue reading...

Above, Hitchcock H7N9 bird flu poster featuring Shanghai's skyline, via Weibo.

China is the second largest economy in the world and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse)—but who's got the time?! Here's the week's reads that will make you look like a keen China observer in case you find yourself immersed in a cultural conversation.

This week:  What's haunting Weibo?... Chicken woes for KFC... North Korean beer... New Zealand product placement... Audi's new branded film... Car plates... Skinny Uniqlo goes bigger... Inflation... Diaosi Mike Sui... Fan Bingbing for booze... Disneyland... Jordan gets countersued... Chinese spending in Europe... Former Google China head picks a fight with a 13-year-old... and more.Continue reading...

"I've been eating at KFC the last few days, could that be a problem?" ("前几天刚吃了肯德基会有问题吗") asked one Weibo user.

The coming week could be a nightmare for KFC in China. Depending on developments in an outbreak of a new strain of avian flu called H7N9, KFC could see its business decimated by another chicken scare just months after a previous one.

KFC is not the only brand worried. Tyson chicken is already rolling out damage control.Continue reading...

HP board shakeup and chairman exit gives CEO Meg Whitman a chance to shake off troubles.

BP faults Deepwater Horizon claims overseer, launches first brand-wide fuel loyalty program.

BMW prepares X4 crossover for U.S. market, makes vehicles greener with fewer cylinders, less gasoline.

Al Jazeera America hires CNN's Ali Velshi as anchor.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos leads $5 million investment round in Henry Blodget's Business Insider.

Apple reportedly signs music labels for streaming service as Google's YouTube clinches deal with Universal Music.

Best Buy may have turned the tide on showrooming Amazon.Continue reading...

A little over a year ago, Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos hit the market. There was no way to predict that the new menu item would become a phenomenon of sorts—selling one million per day last year. Neither Taco Bell or FritoLay, Doritos' parent company, could let the potential of massive sales slip from their fingers, so they did it again, launching a Cool Ranch version earlier this month to much fanfare. 

The launch created a nationwide spectacle as ravenous consumers scoured local Taco Bell locations for the updated version, which the company teased with an 'early release' (which ended up backfiring). Unaffected, the actual launch went off without a hitch, with millions of customers walking away finger-licking happy. "Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos have been one of the most anticipated new menu items we've launched, and will be the biggest in our company history," says Rob Poetsch, a Taco Bell spokesman, in an email to MSN. "We're pleased with the overwhelmingly positive reaction from our fans, in fact, we've seen twice as many social media conversations in the first few days we launched."Continue reading...

Fried chicken lovers in China took a brief break from visiting KFC’s there after news broke in December of last year that the fast-food chain was using chicken suppliers that had violated drug rules in order to fatten up their birds. 

That wasn’t good news for consumers or for a brand that had more than 4,000 outlets in the company and brought in more than 40 percent of its overall revenue from the country. In anticipation of a hefty backlash, Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, readjusted its yearly expectations downward. However, it appears that Chinese chicken consumers have short memories.Continue reading...

KFC has more than 4,000 outlets in China and it counts on them to come up with more than 40 percent of its overall revenue. That overreliance on cash-flow from the world’s most populated nation took a massive hit back in December when Chinese state television let the world know that “some suppliers violated rules on the use of drugs to fatten chickens,” which led to January sales dropping a customer-estimated 37 percent, according to the Associated Press.

The word from the Shanghai Times was that Chinese authorities were investigating the business practices of “Doyoo Group, a poultry company that reportedly bought sick and dead chicken from farms, then resold the sick ones to fast food restaurants such as KFC and McDonald's and processed the dead ones into animal feed."

Though the company was never fined by China food safety authorities for the incident, it caused KFC owner Yum! Brands to reconsider its overall 2013 profit outlook and now has it attempting to show the people of China that nothing quite like what happened last year will ever happen again. It t is promising “to test meat for banned drugs, strengthen oversight of farmers and encourage them to improve their technology,” the AP notes. Plus, KFC is saying that more than 1,000 small producers that its 25 poultry suppliers use have been axed. It is still planning to add 700 new locations in China this year. Continue reading...