If it was April 1, nobody would believe yesterday's announcement by ice cream makers Ben and Jerry's. But, it seems that, for real, the brand has again enlisted popular entertainment in the service of promoting its brand by releasing a limited edition flavor called Schweddy Balls. 

The best part has been the reaction from Alec Baldwin, the actor (and avid tweeter) who starred in the legendary Saturday Night Live skit that inspired the limited edition flavor.Continue reading...

Yahoo's former CEO Carol Bartz reportedly receives $10M severance package as issues that led to her firing emerge.

Weight Watchers outperforms rivals (and medically supervised diets) in new study.

Target takes New York Fashion Week by storm with 25-foot doll to promote Missoni collaboration.

Amazon cuts deal on California taxes, plans to bring click and collect service to UK.

AOL severs ties with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington.

Apple cries foul on Chinese logo (when it should be LG); gets nod for clean, green store design; and may need a third campus in Cupertino by 2015.Continue reading...

President Obama's decision to work his jobs speech on Thursday around the schedule of the National Football League's opening day shows that he's still got some keen political instincts. Because this week, in this economy, the NFL seems to be the one thing you don't want to mess with.

Brand marketers seem to have forgiven the uncetainties sown by the league's four-month labor stoppage and are ready to jump back on an advertising bandwagon that has outrun every other marketing vehicle over the last three years.

Certainly PepsiCo is the prime example: Today, the beverage giant and the NFL announced a 10-year extension of their current agreement to go into effect next year. According to the Wall Street Journal, the extension could be valued as a $2.3-billion investment in the continued marketing appeal of America's real pastime.

It's one of the largest sponsorship deals ever in sports and ensures that PepsiCo brands Pepsi, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and others will be official marketing partners of the league at a cost of nearly $100 million a year.Continue reading...

Amazon.com tests "more airy" website redesign, as delivery locker test with 7-Eleven looms.

Apple designer Jonathan Ive enters a new era, as iPhone 5 speculation mounts and brand announces first store in Hong Kong.

Baidu taps Dell for mobile push.

Bank of America shares decline (despite Warren Buffett's $5 billion injection) in tandem with global banks.

BMW tests 1,000 times brighter laser headlights.

Cantor Fitzgerald's post-9/11 recovery is in the spotlight this week.

Carlyle Group files for IPO.

Coca-Cola will invest $4 billion with Chinese bottling partners to spur China sales.Continue reading...

We can give you a one-word reason why President Obama will not accede to House Speaker John Boehner's request this afternoon to move his jobs-plan speech next week to Thursday from Wednesday. Well, actually, it's one acronym: NFL.

As White House staffer Dan Pfeiffer announced on Twitter, Obama scheduled a Joint Session of Congress for the evening of September 7 so that the entire august body could gather, before a nationwide television audience, to hear the president lay out his long-promised new initiative for creating jobs and getting the U.S. economy back on track.

The jobs speech announcement, which followed Obama's call on Congress to pass key transportation measures to protect jobs, raised some eyebrows because the September 7 timing would precisely conflict with a live televised debate of Republican presidential contenders (already rescheduled back in May) at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, to be broadcast on MSNBC.Continue reading...

Accenture drives social business adoption through gamification.

Amazon battles U.S. states over taxes.

Bally expands to India.

Banco Popular expands rebranding to Popular Inc.

Canada sees online ad revenue exceed print for the first time.

Cargill recalls 36 million pounds of turkey products.

CNN finds host Piers Morgan coming under parliamentary pressure and accusations by Heather Mills over hacking.

Coca-Cola joins brands testing cloud-based in-text social advertising.

comScore acquires analytics firm AdXpose.

Dunkin' Donuts rolls out Keurig single-serve cups, with Starbucks to follow.Continue reading...

When it comes to naming rights and branding, there has to be a limit to what a brand can sponsor or name ... or does there? Trending on YouTube is a proposal to President Obama by the Australian detergent brand Vanish NapiSan.

The proposition? $25 million for Obama. All they ask in return is to be the official brand of the White House. What does that mean? The deal would involve some kind of signage of the brands logo at the front of the building and an exclusive agreement to use only Vanish NapiSan product to wash its laundry. And why is an Aussie brand pitching America's Commander-in-Chief?Continue reading...

Twitter was a bigger winner than either political party as a debt-ceiling-default-averting agreement was hammered out over the weekend, and everyone from President Obama to Sarah Palin to Jeff Jarvis tweeted their thoughts, turning Twitter into the digital Speaker’s Corner.

In an unprecedented move, the White House set up "office hours" on Twitter in the days leading up to a deal being hammered out, "Rickrolling" one Twitter user and irritating many. The participation created an impromptu Twitter town hall, and a more engaging and honest debate than the White House's official Twitter town hall last month.Continue reading...