Super Bowl XLV goes to the Green Bay Packers over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25. Game advertisers including Chrysler, Volkswagen, PepsiCo, Best Buy, CareerBuilder and Bridgestone also win, scoring well with consumers, while WSJ finds "many ads fail to score." Americana reigned supreme on the world’s biggest marketing stage, and Detroit — whose native son Eminem also staged a comeback, appearing in two ads. Meanwhile, Groupon faces questions of whether its first Super Bowl debut crossed a line and thwarted its cause-related marketing goals. And restaurant chains ponder the impact of having sat out Super Bowl advertising this year.

AOL is acquiring Huffington Post for $315 million.  

AutoNation seeks more U.S.-brand dealerships.

Disney raises eyebrows by marketing to newborns.Continue reading...

From time to time, brands looking to be on the bleeding edge of cool become completely untethered from reality.

Creative pitch sessions go off the rails and devolve into a feedback loop of hip, where relativist style means there is no longer any such thing as good or bad taste. Only later, in the daylight and the fallout, does the insanity of the concept become clear. That is about the time a brand finds itself muttering, "We never intended..."

MAC cosmetics has found itself in just such a place with its latest collaboration.Continue reading...

Estée Lauder has launched a mobile application called Ascent, available for download via an Apple iPod Touch at department and specialty store counters worldwide.

The app takes consumers through a series of questions, with the answers helping whittle fragrance recommendations down to a handful of scents that fit each customer’s criteria and mood.

It currently features fragrances in Lauder’s Aramis and Designer Fragrances division as options including Donna Karan Iris, DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom and Michael Kors’ namesake fragrance.

The program will bow in Nordstrom during its Half Yearly Sale weekend later this month. It is also being promoted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and expands on Lauder's social media push foray into Facebook marketing last year.Continue reading...

Pixar's Toy Story 3 uploads fake retro ad (above) for new character, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear.

Amtrak aims to be a people-moover.

Apple swats back at tech blogger with lost iPhone prototype.

Armani hotel opens in Dubai.

Barclays launches UK talent competition.

Budweiser is banking on the World Cup to goose sales.

Charlie Brown & gang now report to Joe Boxer.Continue reading...

Duane Reade's new beauty section will be stocked with upscale brands. [WSJ]

Beauty product sales were down but skincare lines did well in 2009. [WWD]

L.L.Bean launched its Signature collection, but consumers aren't impressed. [Wallet Pop]

DreamWorks promises 3-D animated movies from now on. [Businessweek]

Puma teamed up with Droga5 on a visually stimulating smartphone. [BrandFreak]

Microsoft tries to show up Google by revamping its Bing search engine. [LA Times]Continue reading...

When it comes to advertising, The Academy Awards can't compete with the Super Bowl. However, a slew of brands paid more than a million dollars per spot for some serious exposure during last night's ceremony. Some wasted their money. Some didn't. A couple really stood out.

American Express and Hershey's went the Good Samaritan route, linking their brands to charitable works. Specifically, AmEx promoted its Takepart.com site while Hershey's raised awareness for its Milton Hershey School. The latter was impactful, employing the line "Every Hershey's product you've enjoy supports the Milton Hershey School."Continue reading...

At last night's Grammy Awards, the performer who opened the show – alongside Elton John – is being touted as not just a talented young artist, but also as the next cultural movement in the music industry.

This past year, Lady Gaga took the music industry by storm with an album that spawned four Number 1 hits. She also led digital music in 2009 with sales of more than 15 million downloads.

But the real story isn't even her music, which she writes – it's her entire act. The 23-year old, born Stefani Germanotta, wears offbeat costumes and is known for her "visual theatrics." Alice Cooper, himself one of music's more outrageous personalities, calls Lady Gaga "very vaudevillian." And it's that flamboyant, but accessible and intriguing style of entertainment that Lady Gaga is using to connect with both fans and brands.Continue reading...

Estee Lauder launches web and mobile storefront. [Cosmetics Design]

Time Warner Cable and Fox Television in a gridiron standoff over fees. [DailyFinance]

Wendy's reverts to attack ads, claim their burgers are "real." [BrandFreak]

Mattel's e-commerce site succeeds using video. [Econsultancy]