Men in America do not buy beauty products affiliated with women. They just don't. It's an unwritten and widely accepted truth in the branding industry.

But Dove plans on changing that. And what better place to start than the Super Bowl.

Dove has actually advertised during the Super Bowl before, in 2006, but with a very different goal in mind: reaching women. The brand launched "Campaign for Real Beauty," which created enormous buzz and won acclaim because it broke with conventional wisdom and celebrated ordinary women's bodies. The campaign also helped reinvigorate a soap brand that has been around since 1957. As part of the campaign, Dove launched the "Self-Esteem Fund" and later provided free materials so women could organize "Dove Self-Esteem Workshops."Continue reading...

It took Coca-Cola and Costco less than a month to settle their differences.

According to Costco CFO Richard Galanti, the two companies have resolved their issues and Coke will return to the warehouse-like stores this upcoming Monday.

Costco's original issue stemmed from the beverage maker's refusal to change its pricing requirements in an effort to accommodate consumers in today's recession.

Only a few weeks ago, Costco made the dispute public -- something that is rarely done -- announcing on its website that the company "... is committed to carrying name brand merchandise at the best possible prices. At this time, Coca-Cola has not provided Costco with competitive pricing so that we may pass along the value our members deserve."Continue reading...

One thing can be said for Richard Branson: He is the consummate showman. The iconoclastic Branson, originator of the Virgin brand, recently hosted the "Hollywood-style rollout" of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, touted as the world's first commercial spaceship.

Branson unveiled SpaceShipTwo in New Mexico's Mojave Desert while New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with other dignitaries and VIPs, looked on, unphased by cold winds.

SpaceShipTwo, created by Burt Rutan, a renowned aviation designer, will take passengers on space excursions of two-and-a-half hours at a cost of $200,000 per ticket. Virgin Galactic says 300 people have already signed up for the flights.Continue reading...

Three Swedish entrepreneurs, all under the age of 25, announced on Friday that they plan to launch a brand of designer jeans made in Communist North Korea.

Jakob Ohlsson, Jacob Aastroem and Tor Rauden Kaellstigen felt compelled to contact officials via e-mail in mid-2007 after finding an official website about outsourcing production to North Korea. 

North Korea "has been isolated for so long and ethically, we thought that any sort of increased contact with the outside world would be good," Ohlsson told AFP. Continue reading...

This year, all sorts of sample sale websites have been rising in popularity, and exclusivity is the name of the game. It doesn't even matter what they're selling: Woot only sells one item at an extremely discounted price for a 24-hour period and, by the day's end, it is usually sold out.

One label, VonRosen, requires those interested in membership to apply by sending an e-mail message describing themselves, and why they would like to shop on the brand's website. “Our criteria for membership is fluid,” the site says, “but we will know when we are right for each other.” Is this a blind date, a job application, or a shopping website?Continue reading...

The Redskins won this week. Twice. And both victories were sorely needed by the brand.

Faltering as an athletics program, the team "improved" its season record to three wins and six losses. But the big win was in the Supreme Court.

Or, actually, the victory was that the Supreme Court refused to hear the lawsuit against the team's "Redskins" logo. Filed by a handful of American Indians, the suit claims that the name is racially insensitive.Continue reading...

Apparently more people are interested in military combat and espionage than jacking cars and shooting mobsters. Activision announced that its “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” video game set an opening-day sales record on Tuesday, moving 4.7 million units and trouncing the previous mark by Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto IV,” which sold a mere 3.7 million copies in April 2008.

Cnet’s Daniel Terdiman begrudging applauds the new record while assuming that it’ll be broken by the next hot game – possibly Super Mario Brothers Wii, which goes on sale Sunday – but we see a success story for a brand that was founded before many of today’s gamers could properly hold a joystick.Continue reading...

While much pro sports revenue comes from long-suffering fans, teams (and the star players whose salaries they pay) benefit even more from licensing and merchandising. Certain major sports brands have long had a lock on the market: Nike manages to place its logo on the uniforms of more players in more sports (both professional and amateur) than any other company.

Players' equipment is also prone to preferential treatment. In Major League Baseball, certain brands always get the nod. For years, names like Wilson and Rawlings have been brands of choice for players' gloves --  which is why the story of a no-name brand like Vinci is a sweet victory for the underdog.Continue reading...