Airbus wants Rolls-Royce to pay up for engine woes.

Babies "R" Us introduces Lazoo!, a private-label children's lifestyle brand.

Baskin-Robbins aims to revive brand in Australia.

Chevrolet Volt picks up another car of the year award, from Green Car Journal.

China Unicom to launch own smartphone brand.

Disney will produce up to 20 ads to lobby for a Best Picture nod for Toy Story 3.Continue reading...

Baskin-Robbins is known for giving customers a free scoop to celebrate their birthday. But on its own birthday, the world's biggest ice-cream brand celebrated by taking away scoops, permanently, of some classic flavors. On its 65th anniversary on July 15th, Baskin-Robbins retired five flavors to its "deep freeze".

Now joining the likes of 1960s-era Lunar Cheesecake at its flavor retirement home: French Vanilla, (b. 1945), one of the first flavors launched by founders Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins; Caramel Praline Cheesecake (b. 1970), vanilla cheesecake flavor mixed with caramel and pralined pecans; Campfire S’mores (b. 1975), milk chocolate ice cream with a marshmallow ribbon and graham cracker bits; Apple Pie a La Mode (b. 1976), vanilla ice cream with pieces of real apple and crunchy pie crust and a caramel cinnamon crème ribbon; and Superfudge Truffle (b. 2007), a "decadent" chocolate fudge ice cream with chunks of chocolate ganache and toffee truffle pieces.

While flavors are available while supplies last, the biggest dismay has been over the nixing of French Vanilla, with a protest on Facebook to get the brand to reconsider. In response, the brand is steering fans to its traditional vanilla and promising new flavors shortly. Continue reading...

Summer is a time for ice cream, and Baskin-Robbins is wasting no time scooping the market.

The world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops is launching a multi-million dollar ad campaign in the U.S. featuring animated characters. The first ad, above, promotes its June flavor of the month, Baseball Nut, and introduces the character Humphrey Hound. Four additional animated commercials will run through the end of the year.

Baskin-Robbins keeps a high profile. It has managed to score product placements in movies including Sex and the City and Shrek 2, as well as television shows like The Sopranos and The O.C.

Across the pond, the ice cream maker is going head-to-head in the U.K. with such premium ice creams as Ben & Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs by bringing four premium ice cream flavors to Morrisons, one of the UK's largest supermarket chains.Continue reading...

BP shares jump on news it's capping 10,000+ barrels/day, though its (now $1.25B) cleanup may continue into 4th quarter and claims mount. Despite last week's ad with CEO Tony Hayward flopping, the company will release new ads as soon as this week. The White House, meanwhile, released its own spill update on Saturday.

Apple is expected to unveil the new iPhone at its developers conference today.

AT&T implements tiered pricing today; app makers worry usage will drop.

Yahoo integrates, introduces Facebook features.Continue reading...

In a report that should contain a hometown disclaimer, The New York Times goes all soft describing the expansion of the Mister Softee "empire" in China. Sample line: "Mr. Softee or Mr. Soft Heart, the English translation of 'ruan xin xian sheng' — there is no Mandarin word for Softee — has been a hit, with sales doubling every year since the first truck started rolling three years ago." Forget for a moment that there is also no English word for "Softee." But will its Americana appeal translate to sales in China and beyond?Continue reading...