In an all-out assault on Europe for the 2012 holiday shopping season, American toy-maker Hasbro is re-launching a number of its classic toy lines and making a big licensing push at Brand Licensing Europe in London from October 16-18.

In the US, Hasbro recently re-launched its classic Furby brand, the quirky mechanical creature "with a mind of its own" that caused a sensation some fifteen years ago. The updated version uses a blend of robotic engineering and digital programming "that brings a whole new way to play to kids," said Samantha Lomow, Hasbro's SVP, New Brand Franchises and Global Brand Leader. "The personality of each Furby appears to evolve by the way children play with it, and every unpredictable action and reaction helps make each Furby seem unique." 

Now Hasbro bringing Furby to Europe with a wide-ranging licensing program. Get ready for all things Furby, including apparel and accessories, back-to-school supplies, food and beverages, home decor, paper and party goods, and sporting goods. Furby-licensed merchandise will begin arriving this fall in retail outlets in France, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Hasbro has aggressive re-launch and licensing plans for other toy lines, too.Continue reading...

7-Eleven, JetBlue and Bliss go presidential with "poll" promotions as Pizza Hut comes up with a controversial dare ahead of next week's debate.

Toyota recalls 7.4 million vehicles globally for power-window glitch and 2.5 million Lexus vehicles, as it plugs Prius on the Home Shopping Network.

Samsung signs TV deal with Spotify.

BAE and EADS terminate merger talks.

Bain Capital buys maker of Craftsman Tools.

Ballmer touts new era at Microsoft as bonus trimmed.

Cadbury tells bishop it's not precious about purple.

Chevron is rejected by Supreme Court in Ecuadorian case.Continue reading...

As the world’s eyeballs continue to turn toward screens everywhere like flowers to the sun, there are some flights of fancy of yesteryear that don’t involve looking at flat grayness and are surprisingly having a resurgence.

Remember Rubik’s Cube? The simultaneously simple and complex symbol of the 1980s is seeing an uptick in sales, according to the New York Times. The latest wave of speedcubers dominated the attendance of the 2012 World Cube Association’s U.S. National Championship last weekend in Las Vegas. “Anybody blessed with the basic human senses can instantly ‘get it,’ ” said the toy’s creator, Hungarian architecture professor Erno Rubik, to the Times.

While that quality certainly helps the Cube (a brand owned by Seven Towns Ltd.) in its longevity, its appeal transcends play. “You can use Rubik’s Cube to teach engineering, you can use it to teach mathematics, and you can use it to talk about the interplay between design and engineering and mathematics and creativity,” said Paul Hoffman, president of New Jersey's Liberty Science Center, which will mark the Cube’s 40th anniversary in 2014 with an exhibition. “I’m hoping the Rubik’s Cube will excite a new generation and get them into engineering.”Continue reading...

CNBC joins with Yahoo to bolster web reach via content, programming and distribution alliance.

Comcast and fellow U.S. cable operators face DOJ inquiry over treatment of Netflix and Hulu.

New York's proposed big soda ban goes to public comment as former Coca-Cola exec switches sides.

American Express sponsors Kenny Chesney concert for live-streaming on YouTube.

Apple is likely killing Ping.

Burger King's summer BBQ menu rolls out with sweet potato fries and bacon sundae.

Citi partners with USAID to foster mobile commerce in developing nations.Continue reading...

Film: Battleship
Brands/Products Spotted: 13
Standout Placement: United States Navy
Most Memorable Placement (positive): United States Navy
Most Memorable Placement (negative): Coke Zero
Overall Product Placement Integration Grade (1-10): 4
Comments: You sank our opening weekend number one box office ranking! Indeed, The Avengers continues to play box office hero for the third weekend in a row, leaving Battleship (aka "Rihanna's Big Screen Debut") to float like so much flotsam. But the movie, based on the classic board game, made plenty of money overseas, pleasing the brands that invested in it, none more so than the United States Navy.Continue reading...

Abbott Laboratories looks to consumer for growth.

Amazon looks to produce its own TV programming.

BMW reports higher profits and more investments in future.

Best Buy sees departure of global CMO.

Caribou launches sparkling teas.

Chesapeake Energy goes on damage control after CEO apologizes for personal financial arrangements.

GM says profit strained by European losses.Continue reading...

Syfy’s upfront event for advertisers, held yesterday at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, celebrated a cohort its research team is calling Igniters — “those highly imaginative people who shape the world in which we live and move brands forward faster,” and the key audience that has made the brand a top media destination for imagination-based entertainment.

The brand's on-air/online pitch to media buyers and brand marketers on the Syfy Igniters microsite: "Syfy sparks the imagination, inspiring curiosity and creativity among an influential audience who believes the world is full of possibility. By opening doors to new ideas, and opening eyes to thrilling new perspectives, we make the unbelievable...believable."

The NBC Universal-owned Syfy, which launched in 1992 as the Sci Fi channel (and shortened to Sci-Fi from 1999-2009), has held steady as a top 10 cable entertainment network among adults 25-54 for 16 consecutive years, and its bumper crop in original programming, digital and gaming media portend many more years to come.Continue reading...

In the latest example of an auto brand tapping the deep veins of nostalgia to peddle their wares, a most unlikely marque is going to that well beginning today: Toyota and its new Prius c hybrid.

Riffing on Hasbro's The Game of Life classic board game, the brand's "The Game of Life with Prius c" campaign demonstrates key vehicle attributes in what Toyota calls a "fun and approachable way" that aims to appeal to first-time car buyers with a more reasonably priced and smaller version of Prius, whose price premiums — compared with a similarly equipped and -sized conventional vehicle — have certainly deterred many a buyer.Continue reading...