MetLife is taking its buddies in the Peanuts gang to Walmart, as it pitches a whole new way to buy insurance — in a box, with Snoopy on the cover, which can be picked up in the baby or pharmacy section:Continue reading...

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...

"It's time to get the dough out of politics." Maybe not in real life but we know that's at least how Stephen Colbert and Ben & Jerry's feels about it — by showing it (or tasting it).

The latest edition of "AmeriCone Dream" ice cream, first released as a tie-in with the Comedy Central wag back in 2007, is timed to the upcoming U.S. elections. This “2012 Collectable Election Year PACkage!” is also complete with election streamers, an Uncle Sam hat, red, white and blue motif and messaging around the company’s social mission to "Get The Dough Out" of politics, as cofounder/activist Ben Cohen has been promoting.

The container pays homage to Colbert’s own Super PAC, labeled on its lid skirt: “SUPERPACK!” and clearly noted (just in case you miss the PAC reference) on the front: “2012 Collectable Election Year PACkage!” The reverse side (see below) includes Colbert's editing notes and signature.Continue reading...

As golf is a major passion point for Chase Sapphire’s upscale target and customer base, the brand is actively pursuing golf partnerships and increasing spend this year by more than 500% over last year, and teed up the Golf Digest and Golf Channel brands for a social marketing campaign on Facebook.

Golf Digest and Golf Channel have linked up with Chase Sapphire, Chase bank's premier travel and dining rewards credit card, on ‘Beyond the Tee,’ a multi-platform initiative centered around a Facebook app on the Chase Sapphire FB page, aimed at golf enthusiasts.

“Many of our cardholders are passionate about golf, so Chase Sapphire is committed to providing the compelling experiences and content we know our customers want,” stated Sean O’Reilly, general manager, Chase Card Services.Continue reading...

Microsoft and Yahoo have announced Yahoo Bing Network as the official name for Microsoft and Yahoo’s Search Alliance partnership, with the related move that Microsoft adCenter is being renamed Bing Ads. 

“Bing Ads is not only a new name, but an improved experience with new features to help you better manage your campaigns and complete tasks faster,” says Microsoft’s Tina Kelleher in a blog post. “Recent improvements include: a new web interface, improved ad rotation controls, and agency enablement tools that make it easier for agencies to manage multiple accounts.”

Microsoft and Yahoo claim a 30% share of the U.S. search market with a reach of 151 million users likely to spend 124% more than the average searcher and 5% more than Google searchers, thereby offering advertisers 46 million unique searchers in the U.S. who aren’t using Google, according to comScore June stats cited by WebProNews.com.

Still, it's hard taking down Google.Continue reading...

Starbucks’ $25 million investment in and deployment of Square for mobile payments, signed Tuesday by Square CEO Jack Dorsey and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, will help spur adoption of mobile commerce in the US, with a halo effect that will be felt beyond.

Square will begin processing all credit and debit card transactions at Starbucks’ nearly 7,000 company-owned shops in the United States this fall via Pay With Square, and soon, customers will order their café du jour and charge it to their credit card just by saying their name. 

“Starbucks is one of the largest organizations in the world, taking technology like Square — simple, fast and focused on customer experience — and bringing it to a massive scale,” commented Dorsey to the New York Times.

The Twitter co-founder and executive chairman (naturally) tweeted the whole deal, sharing the big news late Tuesday night in New York and subsequently posting photos of Adam Brotman, Starbucks' chief digital officer, using Square (and tipping 30%) in a NYC taxi; the deal-signing with Schultz taken Tuesday night in New York; and a twitpic on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday morning.

It's a huge week for Square: it's also receiving some cross-promotional love from Apple. Check out the new TV commercial for the iPad (being swiped as the voiceover says "make a sale") that debuted Tuesday night, below.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola ♥ the Olympic Games. After all, the soda maker has been lapping up the Olympics for every bit of marketing goodwill it can get for more than 80 years.

Now this year’s Olympics are in full swing and Coca-Cola can see the light at the end of the tunnel of its Move to the Beat campaign with singer Katy B and producer Mark Ronson that kicked off ahead of its sponsorship of the 8,000-mile Olympic torch relay. It's been a busy year with a variety of London 2012 marketing tie-ins.

And now Coca-Cola is extending its musical chops in a just-announced partnership with will.i.am to launch a sustainability-collaboration platform for brands dubbed EKOCYCLE, which is partnering to produce greener Beats by Dr Dre headphones — a brand that isn't music to the London Olympics organizers' ears.Continue reading...

PepsiCo today announced a multi-year relationship with the Pittsburgh Steelers to be the NFL team's exclusive "non-alcoholic beverage, salty snacks and sports fuel provider."

The deal marks the Steelers' first such partnership, and gives PepsiCo the rights to exclusive selling, dispensing and serving at Heinz Field; fixed stadium signage; venue and team sponsor assets; integration into the team's mobile, TV and digital assets; and local media and retail promotional opportunities.

The stadium conversion will be complete by the start of the Steelers' 2012 season. PepsiCo is also introducing a limited-edition commemorative Pepsi MAX can in honor of the Steelers' 80th anniversary, available throughout Pennsylvania beginning in the fall. That's not PepsiCo's only limited-edition commemorative can.

PepsiCo is preparing to roll out “a new malt-flavored version of its Mountain Dew soda” that will appear in select 7-Eleven and Kroger stores, according to CSPnet.com.

The gold-tinted premium version of Mountain Dew just received trademark approval to be called Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold and will appear in refrigerator cases in late August in a few Midwestern cities as well as Denver and Charlotte, N.C.Continue reading...