Betty White is taking full advantage of her late-in-life career resurgence, but it's not just about her comic persona. In addition to developing a reality series for NBC, where she made her comeback on Saturday Night Live, she's continuing her association as a spokesperson for The Lifeline Program (which calls her "Lifeline's Darling") for more than five years.

In addition to appearing in commercials for Lifeline, which helps people looking to sell their life insurance policies, she's the anchor for the newly launched "Betty's Corner" social media section of the brand's website, which aims to personalize its messaging (homey touches include "handwritten notes" from White) for existing customers and other consumers with questions about so-called "life settlements."

No more edgy comedians for Aflac.

After firing Gilbert Gottfried for tasteless tweets about the recent disaster in Japan and launching a nationwide search, Aflac today announced the new voice of its duck mascot — Dan McKeague, a 36-year-old classic rock radio station sales manager from Minneapolis, MN, who beat 12,500 contenders for the role.

His first Aflac spot (below) will debut, appropriately, during tonight's premiere of The Voice — a competition to find America's next great singer — on NBC.Continue reading...

These days, consumers can hardly make a purchase without being exposed to some kind of loyalty rewards or frequent buyer program.

They get cards punched when buying a cup of coffee or a bagel. They get "member discounts" at supermarkets. They get credits on merchandise from retailers. They accumulate points good towards free flights and hotel stays from airlines, hotels, and credit card companies.

So why aren't customers redeeming them?Continue reading...

Still staring at your 2010 receipts and nowhere near filing your tax return, even though US Tax Day was extended to April 18th this year?

Worry not: Just head to your local Walmart, where a co-branding arrangement brings Jackson Hewitt tax prep pros to the good people of Walmart.

Makes sense — after all, Walmart's overwhelming brand value is "discount." This has worked well for the retailer over the years, positioning it to offer the lowest possible prices for products and services people need.

But as consumers often associate greater expense with greater quality, will the discount retailer's image hurt the perception of its tax services? And is Walmart's offer about more than a service to customers?

Its tax prep partner, meanwhile, turns out to be in need of some financial help itself.Continue reading...

ING Direct in Italy doesn't need to let its ads do the talking; its ads are talking.

The new spots above and below riff on the online bank's 2010 Italian campaign that featured talking actors on the sides of buses, billboards and other outdoor ads for the brand, which uses a pumpkin in Italy instead of the orange ball used in its North American marketing.Continue reading...

BP reviewed by US prosecutors for potential manslaughter charges.

British Airways cable crew vote for new round of strikes.

News Corp. and Vevo are in talks about the future of Myspace.

AT&T/T-Mobile merger "hurdle must be high," writes the New York Times in an op-ed.

Eminem lawsuit could change how digital revenues get shared with artists.

Grameen Bank head Muhammad Yunus fights move to get him to step down.Continue reading...

That Dora-esque complaint could be the battle cry from merchants fed up with paying a substantial fee to the credit card companies in return for carrying their card-swiping and transactional business.

The mobile payments market could reach $618 billion by 2016, according to consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Co., and the battle is heating up. 

Google has partnered with MasterCard and Citigroup to have the Nexus S Android smartphone, developed with Samsung, embedded with near-field communication (NFC) technology to enable purchases with a wave of the device across readers at the point-of-sale or check-out.

It’s the next territorial imperative for m-commerce as the financial-services, technology and telecom industries craft strategies and devices to get more of consumer spending via smartphones which are virtually transforming into electronic wallets.Continue reading...

A lot of financial-planning advertising tries to get Americans to think about how big a nest egg they’ll need upon retirement and then suggests an advice brand that will help them reach the goal.

Well, Northwestern Mutual is trying to get Americans to consider “The Number,” too – but it’s a different kind of number. This is the number for how many years they might be likely to live.

The giant Milwaukee-based life insurer – once known for its brand positioning as “The Quiet Company,” and more recently for the slogan, “Build a Foundation for Life” – has launched a Lifespan Calculator on its website that helps you figure out your expected longevity.

The calculation is based on a number of factors, including habits regarding diet, exercise and vices. Life expectancies in America continue to rise, to 80.6 years for females born today and 75.7 years for males.

The point of Northwestern Mutual’s calculator actually is to remind people that, with longer life spans, retirement savings must go further than they used to. And so more Americans will figure they need professional help so their money doesn’t run out before they do.Continue reading...