Four-year-old Seb White will make history as the first model with a learning disability to be featured in a British TV commercial, thanks to UK mega-retailer Marks & Spencer.

Seb’s mother, Caroline, posted his picture on the M&S Facebook page to highlight the absence of disabled children in advertising back in August, and the high street brand invited his participation in a photo shoot for their print holiday catalogue. Seb’s stellar performance then resulted in an invitation to appear in their holiday TV campaign.

"He won his place in our TV ad thanks to the natural charm and magical personality he showed on set at our magazine shoot,” said Steve Sharp, executive director of marketing at M&S, to the Independent. “All the kids had great fun filming the ad and Seb really was one of the gang — which is exactly how it should be."Continue reading...

For a while, the notion of regulating genetically modified organisms (better known as GMOs) included in food seemed like a good idea, and anti-Big Food advocates in California attracted a lot of support in a state where residents like to be on the cutting edge of just about everything. Calfornians have never minded serving as a bellwether on new regulatory initiatives that end up sweeping the rest of the country, such as automotive emissions.

But the closer today's vote on Proposition 37 loomed, the more that initial support of the idea waned. And this U.S. Election Day, even backers of the anti-GMO initiative seemed resigned to its defeat, although it's still being closely watched. (Update: Prop 37 was indeed defeated at the polling booth.)

What happened? Well, a combination of huge contributions by moneyed CPG brands battered Prop 37's drive to label GMOs in a massive advertising and PR blitz with a "No on 37" drive. And backers of the added regulation alleged dirty tricks by the competition as they sought to sway voters (despite scientific evidence to the contrary) that GMO-containing products are hardly the stuff of "Frankenfood" that really harms consumers.Continue reading...

To run or not to run — that has been the burning question in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in New York this week.

As New York continues the massive clean-up and restoration of a wounded, limping city, with millions still without power, food, water and transport, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was adamant the ING New York City marathon (rededicated as a "Race to Recover" with proceeds to relief efforts) would go on, even though the starting line is in hard-hit Staten Island. The refusal to reschedule the race has been widely protested, while observers are questioning the impact on title sponsor ING, and fellow sponsors including Timex and Asics.

“The city is a city where we have to go on,” stated Bloomberg in a press conference on Thursday, arguing that the race must go on for the cash and morale infusion. "There's an awful lot of small businesses that depend on these people. We have to have an economy,” Bloomberg said in a news conference Thursday. "It's a great event for New York, and I think for those who were lost, you know, you've got to believe they would want us to have an economy and have a city go on for those that they left behind."

Update: At 5:21 pm Friday, the mayor's office confirmed media rumors that the race will not go ahead on Sunday. Bloomberg told the press, "We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it." And while this means there will be no 2012 NYC marathon, New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg said canceling was the right move, telling AP, "This is what we need to do and the right thing at this time." ING also supported the cancellation, commenting, "ING U.S. understands that many people, businesses, as well as its own New York-based employees have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy this week. The company encourages everyone to consider making a donation or to volunteer with a nonprofit that is helping with disaster-relief effort if they are able to do so."Continue reading...

UPS, which is donating $1.5 million in cash and in-kind support to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, shared this video today (taken by Michael Sober) showing a UPS truck making its way through flooding in Hoboken, NJ. Sober is asking media outlets that run his video to mention http://www.partywithpurpose.org to donate to relief efforts in Hoboken.

Here's to the many brands that have been stepping up in the wake of Hurricane Sandy's devastation on the U.S., providing everything from money to food to power and their employees, products and services to help disaster relief efforts. A partial list of charitable first-responders follows (and if we miss any, please let us know in the comments):

AT&T will extend late-payment windows for wireless and wireline customers, waive late payment fees and not disconnect services because of non-payment, and in an unprecedented open-network arrangement with T-Mobile, will enable roaming to customers of both companies in the impacted areas. AT&T wireless customers can make a $10 donation (up to $50) for Hurricane Sandy relief by texting to relief organizations. AT&T and T-Mobile also joined forces on a wireless roaming agreement, while Verizon Wireless is offering free charging for all cellphones.Continue reading...

According to the company's press release, "Anheuser-Busch will begin packaging 44,000 cases of emergency drinking water – or 1,056,000 cans – this week for residents impacted by Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters. More than 4,000 cases of canned water are already en route to Anheuser-Busch distributors Harrison Beverage in Pleasantville, N.J., and Ritchie & Page Distributing in Robbinsville, N.J., and will be available to American Red Cross and other local disaster relief organizations later today. More than 10,000 cases have been requested for Brooklyn, N.Y., alone.

The Anheuser-Busch Foundation also announced a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross to assist in on-the-ground support for disaster relief workers and victims of Hurricane Sandy. "The devastation left by Hurricane Sandy is significant, and we hope our donation will bring some relief to those impacted by the storm, especially those hardest hit in New Jersey and New York," said Margarita Flores, VP of Community Affairs at Anheuser-Busch.

Anheuser-Busch is the founding sponsor of the American Red Cross Ready Rating Program through a $2.1 million grant. Ready Rating is a program that helps businesses, schools and organizations become prepared for disasters and other emergencies. Anheuser-Busch continues to support Ready Rating by encouraging businesses, schools and organizations to familiarize themselves with the Ready Rating Program to help ensure the safety of their teams. Helping communities cope with disasters has been an Anheuser-Busch tradition since 1906 when the company made a donation to victims of the San Francisco earthquake.

Today, in addition to providing monetary support, Anheuser-Busch packages fresh drinking water and donates it to emergency relief organizations for distribution to those in need. Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 71 million cans of emergency drinking water following natural and other disasters."

Forget yoga — India now has a whole new way to keep its energy up. Yes, Starbucks has just opened its first store in the market.

While the drinks list at the world’s newest Starbucks will look pretty familiar to anybody who has ordered a grande skim latte elsewhere on the planet, the food features no beef or pork and a lot of old faves with local twists, such as a chicken tikka panini sandwich, a croissant with cardamom and the milk-based sweet mawa, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a sign of respect for its vegetarian customers, the non-veg food items will be sold at another counter and prepared in a completely different oven.

The world’s largest coffee chain is expanding into the world’s second-most populated country with the help of India's venerable Tata Group just as revenues in America are slowing, and the number of India’s consumers of coffee is nearly twice what it was a decade ago.Continue reading...

Today is Génifique Day (formerly Genes Day), a one-day national event benefitting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Lancôme will donate $7 from in-store or online sales of select Génifique products to St. Jude. Last year’s events and activities helped raise over $300,000 in support of lifesaving research and treatment.

"Our three-year partnership stands as a testament to Lancome's commitment to supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, an organization that shares many of our core values," says Serge Jureidini, president of Lancome USA, in a press release.

Lancome, the world's largest luxury beauty brand, sold at 2,000 counters across the U.S., applied ten years of research to Genifique, introduced in 2009, which “re-plumps, refines and re-illuminates the skin as if infused with life.” Fans of the product include "Mad Men" actress Christina Hendricks, Lancome ambassadress Julia Roberts, British songbird Lily Allen, supermodel Veronica Webb and star makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury.

Making it easy for people to spread awareness of Genifique Day, the Lancome Facebook page is inviting users to create and share photo booth photo strips about “occasions when they feel their best.”Continue reading...