Depending where you were, you may have celebrated Halloween on Oct. 31st. At Procter & Gamble, they've been celebrating the company's 175th anniversary.

That's right: P&G – mother of such consumer packaged goods icons as Tide, Pampers, and Comet, among others – is now 175 years old, but a look back at the company's history reveals that the whole endeavor might not have started if an errant flame and a rapscallion hadn’t done their dirty work all those years ago — or if an opinionated father and father-in-law hadn't intervened.

Or put another way, Mr. Procter's failures in England led to P&G's global success today — and Procter took a Gamble that paid off.Continue reading...

The Tour de France is turning 100 next year, its organizers hope with a clean slate. It will be the first one to take place after the historic removal of Lance Armstrong’s seven straight wins from 1999 to 2005, even if it can't do much about its yellow (jersey) branding that recalls Armstrong's Livestrong yellow.

The Tour announced its route for next summer’s big race on Wednesday. Tour de France President Jean-Etienne Amaury said organizers will keep fighting the “plague” of doping, even as he didn't mention Armstrong by name.

One thing the Tour has got to be thankful for is that, unlike the many sponsors of Armstrong that have quickly ended their relationships with him, none of their sponsors have cut the cord just yet, the Associated Press reports.

"We don't sponsor a team or an individual, we sponsor a sporting event that each year attracts great public enthusiasm," stated French bank LCL spokesman Pierre Baillot, the AP reports. "The wider public knows how to draw a distinction."Continue reading...

Coca-Cola may have just been ranked as the top global brand by brandchannel’s owner, Interbrand, but the beverage giant apparently thinks you might be able to help make its brand even stronger. Yes, you.

For more than 125 years, the company has had a logo that hasn’t changed a whole lot, as you can see above. As the Blank You Very Much design contest website notes, “the classic lettering was originally designed in the early 1900s by Coca-Cola’s former bookkeeper, Frank Robinson,” and the swirl “was added in 1969 to represent the unique contour of the glass bottles.” 

Coca-Cola and the Blank You Very Much site have joined forces and are asking designers across America to work with the iconic logo in a fresh way, incorporating it into a design that could work as a t-shirt. Don’t worry, Coke fans; there is no plan to change the logo. In fact, the rules are very clear on how the logo can be used.Continue reading...

The Chanel Spring/Summer 2013 women's ready to wear runway show at the Grand Palais in Paris on Tuesday raised a few eyebrows, and not just for the new outfits from designer Karl Lagerfeld but for the design of the sets the 68 models strutted on, or the celeb wattage of Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez and her bedazzled four-year-old daughter in the front row.

It was hard to miss the 13 towering wind turbines that dominated the stage, and the solar panels that graced the stage and inspired the tiles on the catwalk. Green, it seems, must be the new black. What’s sexier than a few turbines? "Energy is the most important thing in life," Lagerfeld, who's known for his grand pronouncements, stated. "If I had to build a house, I would put (wind turbines) in the garden.”Continue reading...

Chanel has released a trailer and the first chapter (below) for "Inside Chanel," the first time it's telling its brand story online with an interactive timeline and iconic advertising images such as Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol's No. 5 bottle.Continue reading...

While the Boy Scouts brand has been rocked by the organization's mishandling of pedophilia charges, the century-old Girl Scouts have gone from strength to strength in their centennial year. The latest change: the iconic Girl Scout Cookies are getting a redesign for the first time since 1999, honoring the significance and continued growth of the $790-million girl-led business. 

The iconic packaging highlights five financial, literacy and entrepreneurship skills that the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics and the redesign matches the embodiment of Girl Scouting in 2012, part of the brand’s 100th anniversary celebrated in March. 

“We have more than 50 million cookie customers across the country, and the cookie box is the most tangible and powerful way for us to communicate directly with consumers,” stated Girl Scouts USA CEO Anna Maria Cháve about the new cookie box packaging, which features "stories of what Girl Scouts do today."Continue reading...

Tiffany celebrates its 175th anniversary today, opening its doors on Sept. 14, 1837. Fans are posting congrats on the brand's Facebook page — with some celebrating by buying a bauble or two from its 1837 anniversary collection and special edition Rubedo rose-gold jewelry, and others lusting after "the one and only" yellow Tiffany diamond, all 128.54 carats, re-set for its 175th anniversary.Continue reading...

Gap isn't the only apparel brand getting its dance on. Check out Levi's latest videos: for Curve ID, above, and featuring dancer Maybelline Wong, below.Continue reading...