QVC is selling Titanic-branded merchandise for sinking centenary next month. "Legacy 1912 –Titanicä" perfume, anyone?

H&M is rumored to have a high-end luxury fashion line in the works, while its Conscious Collection lands on April 14th.

Converse Chuck Taylor Premium line recasts iconic high-top sneaker in luxe leather.

Move over, Ralph Lauren's Big Pony and Lacoste's Big Croc — Benetton is joining the big logo brigade:Continue reading...

WSJ reports on the biggest product placement extravaganza to hit U.S. broadcast primetime TV: Fashion Star, debuting tonight on NBC. Saks, Macy's and H&M are embedding their marketing message directly into the Project Runway-like competition in a bid to reach more consumers. Watch the trailer and a sneak peek below.Continue reading...

American Express announced an innovative social media integration with Twitter this week, enabling US cardmembers to turn customized Twitter hashtags into savings via sync.americanexpress.com. Promoted with the tagline “Sync. Tweet. Save.” the social marketing promotion is the most direct use of Twitter to date by a brand that creates a real utility for customers: couponless savings loaded directly to their synced cards and automatically delivered in a credit statement.

“With Twitter, we’ve really hit the trifecta. We have a great platform in Twitter,” said Ed Gilligan, Vice Chairman, American Express. “We know our cardmembers are engaged in Twitter. We’ve been working with them to think about how can we help them move from conversations to commerce. To turn a tweet into a transaction.”

Brands trying out Amex Sync include Best Buy, McDonald’s, Whole Foods Market, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Century 21, The Cheesecake Factory, Dell, FedEx Office, FTD, Gulf, H&M, Seamless.com, Sports Authority, Ticketmaster, Virgin America and Zappos. They'll be closely watching the analytics on this test, with the Amex Synch API offering also supplying reports to merchants about customer spending, online and offline.

And if they're in Austin for SXSW on March 12th, they can celebrate at a concert featuring Jay-Z.Continue reading...

Spotted a crowd outside your local H&M today? Fashionistas are lining up as the new Marni capsule collection hits stores. At H&M's New York City location at Fifth Avenue 18th Street, the queue extended the length of the block by 8:30am.

Airbus parent accuses China of blocking jet sales over emissions scheme.

American Airlines parent retreats on pension-plan termination.

Apple lifts lid on new iPad and faces U.S. warning, along with other publishers, about collusion on e-book pricing.

BMW reports profits surge amid global luxury-car boom.

Continental appeals "absurd" verdict in Concorde crash.

Cracker Barrel uses country-music roots to build Twitter.

Dairy Queen expands in China.

Delta launches in-flight shopping with Amazon.

Facebook beefs up roster of IPO underwriters.Continue reading...

The Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry's largest alliance of labor unions and non-governmental organizations, has already convinced apparel retailers and designers including Armani, Versace, Gucci, H&M and Levi Strauss & Co to ban sandblasted jeans for endangering workers' lives.

As the CCC's website details, giving denim that "lived in" look by high-pressured sandblasting contaminates the air and can contribute to silicosis, a fatal lung disease. Now Target has announced it is joining the global ban on the technique; find out more in the budget retailer's blog post. Still under pressure by labor activists to join the ban: Dolce & Gabbana.

Below, watch a Levi Strauss video featuring chief supply chain officer David Love marking the company's first anniversary of no-sandblasting last September.Continue reading...

Toyota teams with Marvel for a Yaris viral video, above.

Ford hooks up with the 2012 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue for product placement.

The king(size) Snickers bar is dead. Make way for the fun size.

Below: Coke and ScarJo, Will Ferrell, Jeremy Linsanity and more.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...