The Angry Birds juggernaut has already gone into orbit with Angry Birds Space; now Rovio is extending the franchise into a galaxy far, far away. 

On November 8, the Angry Birds and Star Wars universes will collide in what Rovio is calling "our best game to date." Naturally, there will be "a whole host of toys, animations and other Angry Birds Star Wars goodness to enjoy" as the game-maker announced this morning. Check out the trailer below, and watch Rovio's Tumblr for more.Continue reading...

Toys R Us is really aiming for this holiday season to bring in some big bucks. As a result, the company is hiring 13% more seasonal help than it did last year, hiring 45,000 temporary employees across the U.S.

Why the need for all the extra folks? Well, the retailer is planning to have 50 more pop-up shops than it did last year across the country  and it is, of course, very excited about the revenue possibilities for its new made-for-kids-tablet called Tabeo, a featured item on its 2012 Hot Toys List.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the store's proprietary $150 Tabeo is going to hit its stores, as planned, in October. Fuhu, the Taiwanese manufacturer of the kid-friendly Nabi tablet that Toys R Us sold before Tabeo, is attempting to block its sale with a lawsuit claiming intellectual property infringement.Continue reading...

Nobody wants to relive the days of folks getting trampled for Cabbage Patch Kids or engaging in fistfights for Tickle Me Elmo dolls. Perhaps to avoid such awfulness, which of course brings bad publicity for whatever retailer is involved, and to pick up a few bucks along the way, Toys R Us is letting consumers reserve specific toys before the holiday season — with a catch.

In addition to announcing its list of the 50 “hot toys” (which includes Hasbro's version 2.0-edition Furby, a $70 Laloopsy doll, One Direction dolls) that kids, apparently, are clamoring for this holiday season, the toys' prospective buyers will be informed when the product arrives. That way, nobody has to get trampled.

That’s not to say that Toys R Us isn’t going to do everything it can to get as many people into its doors during the crucial holiday shopping season as it can. Indeed, the Hot Toys RSVP checklist must be downloaded from the Toys R Us website and then printed as a PDF and delivered to a bricks and mortar Toys R Us store with a 20% deposit to hold the item for pick-up. The better to woo you with impulse purchases, my dear.Continue reading...

One mooncake wears a thong. Another, called the "full monty," is a bare buttocks. One other mooncake, called "spread my cheeks," is exactly what it says.

The very unconventional line of mooncakes comes from Hong Kong's cheeky design maves at lifestyle brand/retailer G.O.D. (short for "Goods of Desire") and it, according to Jingdaily.com, "puts the 'moon' in mooncakes."Continue reading...

China is the second latest economy in the world, and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse!); but who's got the time?! A weekly potpourri of reads that will make you look like a keen China observer during any conversation about China. First up:

IKEA stores, a wonderland for Chinese freeloaders
"A net user named @薇薇诺诺2661317325 posted on Sina Weibo, China’s hugely popular microblogging service, a series of photos she took in an IKEA store in the eastern city of Nanjing where almost every bed in the show rooms is occupied by one or two people soundly asleep. 'From age 0 to 80, each of them has fallen into a rapturous sleep! Even on those beds that are not occupied, sheets are in a mess after a havoc has been created,' she commented."
Related Reading: China's Kunming Adds Fake Ikea Store to Apple Clones [below: Evisu, Angry Bird meat, and more]Continue reading...

The China Daily uses the ongoing frenzy around the Euro 2012 soccer football tournament to revisit a known, but not well known enough, phenomenon in China. Namely, names being registered in China by people who have nothing to do with the trademarked names themselves.

As The China Daily notes, "Philipp Lahm, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta are world-popular soccer stars, but they have also attracted attention that they might not want — from Chinese companies registering their names as trademarks."

Anyone charged with protecting a brand, or who might BE a brand, should drop what they are doing immediately and check to see if your brand has been registered in China without your approval, spelling your doom. Don't even bother reading the rest of this piece on China and trademarks. Go check.Continue reading...

Rovio Entertainment Ltd. is pulling back the slingshot and preparing to bombard China. The maker of the global phenomenon Angry Birds game just announced that it will open several theme parks in China "in the not too distant future."

Rovio's official investment in China might leave many actually in China asking, "You mean they weren't here already?"

"Angry Birds Should Start Getting Upset About IP Infringement" was the title of a post one year ago on China Hearsay, a blog written by a Beijing-based IP/IT lawyer and law professor, Stan Abrams. Abrams noted the sheer abundance of Angry Birds merchandise on the streets in China, adding that he "would be utterly shocked" if any of the products were licensed.Continue reading...

LVMH acquires storied French luxury brand Arnys.

Nokia to cut 10,000 jobs, sells Vertu luxury brand.

GM plans to close Opel factory in Germany.

Amazon and Google rush to wrap up new gTLD domain-name suffixes with ICANN.

Applebees sees franchisee's new marketing campaign diverge controversially from corporate brand.

Aung San Suu Kyi warns investors off Myanmar's state oil and gas firm on historic visit to Europe.

Coca-Cola renews sponsorship of BET's 106 & Park.

Facebook launches real-time bidding for "Marketplace" ads.

GE promotes new refrigerator in online-only video.Continue reading...