Taco Bell is introducing its new "Live Más" tagline in a kickoff campaign for Doritos Locos Tacos (joining the quick serve restaurant chain's menu on March 8th). The first commercial, "Pockets," will premiere during TNT's All-Star Game telecast on Saturday night. Find out more below.Continue reading...

Taco Bell is changing its tagline from "Think Outside the Bun" to "Live Más," which is Spanish for "Live More," starting with national advertising rolling out on TNT's NBA All-Star game on Saturday night.

The move is timed to the Doritos Locos Tacos launch on March 8th, which CEO Greg Creed told USA Today will be"the biggest new-product launch Taco Bell has ever had."

Not everyone's convinced by the new slogan, however. "They're trying to suggest a lifestyle aspiration but this seems an overreach for Taco Bell, as is their Cantina Bell menu effort," commented restaurant marketing consultant Denise Lee Yohn to Ad Age.

"A tagline should embrace the DNA of the brand, which for Taco Bell is extraordinary value," she said, adding that the use of "imperative tag lines" seem outdated, and that Taco Bell should use a tagline that communicates the personality, spirit, or values of the brand, such as Chipotle's "food with integrity" stance.

The actual introduction of the co-branded Doritos Locos Tacos may be a couple of weeks away from joining its menu nationwide, on March 8th, but Taco Bell is in need of a hit product launch. It's been only a year since the since-discredited lawsuit against Taco Bell's beef did its damage. And the brand's young-adult customer base is still struggling with unemployment doldrums.

So the chain has been gearing up its highly capable promotional machine far in advance for the new line that consists of Taco Bell fillings and shells made from Doritos, including a campaign on Twitter. While Taco Bell typically must make marketing mileage out of a new layer of cheese here or a different flavor of meat filling there, what's different this time is that the chain is able to co-brand with one of the biggest names in snacking. A clock on Taco Bell's website counts down the seconds until the magic date.Continue reading...

M&M's "Just My Shell" reveal of Ms. Chocolate was the most popular Super Bowl 2012 commercial, as voted on by YouTube users in its thumbs up/thumbs down Ad Blitz contest. The new character reveal of the brand's "Chief Chocolate Officer" was no doubt helped by a post-game social campaign around the character.

Rounding out the top five, Chrysler's "Halftime in America" spot featuring Clint Eastwood was #2, Bud Light's "Rescue Dog" (aka "Here Weego") was #3, Chevy Silverado "2012" was #4 and the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl fan-created "Man's Best Friend" was #5.

Angry Birds is heading to space.

Apple threatens to sue China's Proview over iPad trademark dispute.

Boeing competes for Asia orders worth $10 billion.

Danone and Nestle work to overcome antitrust obstacles in their bids for Pfizer infant-nutrition unit.

David Yurman and other brands see uptick in sales of men's accessories.

Fiat retunes U.S. marketing after 2011 problems while erstwhile spokeswoman Jennifer Lopez turns to lots of other brand deals.

Google launches Latitude Leaderboards, puts Foursquare on notice.Continue reading...

And the votes are in... This past Super Bowl was one heck of a showdown, and not just involving the teams. The highly anticipated and heavily judged commercials have been hotly debated all week. As rated by ad-trackers including Hulu, USA Today and Nielsen, the outcome of votes have made it clear which ads reign supreme. Check out the winners below.Continue reading...

As the world's biggest stage for marketers, we'd have to give Super Bowl XLVI, generously, a B-minus. While the game was compellingly competitive right until the last play, and Madonna acquitted herself pretty well for a 53-year-old halftime-show attraction, America's brand marketers barely held up their end of the extravaganza.

For one thing, there was no genuine stand-up-and-cheer advertising moment during NBC's telecast as there was last year, in Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and its new Chrysler 200 "Imported from Detroit," although Clint Eastwood was a worthy successor.

In fact, stand-out moments in the ads were almost non-existent; the humor that carried most of the ads didn't come close to an outbreak of hilarity; and a few spots manifested jump-the-shark syndrome, such as an NBC promo that cameoed Betty White.Continue reading...

The rules of Super Bowl advertising have changed — it's no longer about the surprise of debuting your spot during the Big Game, but about seeding buzz through viral sneak peeks (or the entire spot) on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Brands are eager for a "halo effect," adding to a record tide of early "reveals" of Super Bowl ads and related content. So with that in mind, here is the latest crop of sneak peeks at the commercials you'll see on Super Bowl Sunday, starting with CareerBuilder's crazy office chimpanzees at top.

Skechers also released a teaser for its Super Bowl XLVI spot, which will air just before the two-minute warning at the end of the first half and spoofs its underdog status with a dog — a sneaker-wearing French bulldog, to be exact.Continue reading...