Famous mouths opening up — isn't that what the Grammys are all about?

Miracle Whip has just posted a teaser video on its YouTube channel (watch above) hinting at some of the gold-plated throats that will help the brand promote its sponsorship of Sunday's Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, recording a song (a title guess: "We are the Swirl"?) and using the tagline — "Keep an Open Mouth" — that the Kraft-owned brand introduced during another awards show: the 2012 Academy Awards.

Participating musicians include Scottish singer Susan Boyle, country legend Wynonna Judd (who's been tweeting about the launch—see below), former 'N Sync vocalist Lance Bass, '80's pop star Tiffany, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke (who tweeted an Instagram photo of Boyle with his motorcycle; thanks, Fairacre, for the Twitter tip), and members of the Village People (who posted photos from the video shoot on Facebook), all seen in a behind-the-scenes video during the taping at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood.

The teaser ends: "Famous Mouths Are Opening Up for Miracle Whip" and promises an "epic video" (update: watch it here) that will be "opening" on Sunday. Ahead of Sunday's debut, the campaign is being promoted on the brand's Facebook page and on Twitter with the hashtag #KAOM, an acronym for the "Keep an Open Mouth" tagline.Continue reading...

Kraft is moving to prevent Cracker Barrel restaurants from extending its store brand into American supermarkets, where Kraft's Cracker Barrel cheese brand has been a major player since 1954.

There was seemingly no big threat to Kraft or to its Cracker Barrel cheese trademark when Lebanon, Tenn.-based Cracker Barrel Old Country Store sold merely a few grocery items under the Cracker Barrel name at small general stores attached to most of its 600-some U.S. restaurants.

But now that Cracker Barrel has struck a major licensing agreement with the John Morrell Food Group to sell Cracker Barrel-branded food products through grocers and mass merchandisers, Kraft says it is concerned that the restaurant chain's brand expansion could create confusion among consumers — and thereby damage the Kraft line.Continue reading...

The Oreo brand showed a digital nimbleness heretofore unseen during Sunday night’s Super Bowl game — the stuff marketers dream about.

The Mondelez-owned Oreo had already aired its Super Bowl TV commercial, "Whisper Fight," which promoted the “Cookie or Creme?” debate with a social marketing campaign: an Instagram link to continue the conversation, visually. The spot asks: Is the cream or the cookie that is the most delicious part of an Oreo? 

It was an engaging brand message that cost the company $3.5 million. But then the lights went out. "What happens when everything changes, when you go off script?" Hofstetter said. "That was where it got fun. You need a brave brand to approve content that quickly. When all of the stakeholders come together so quickly, you've got magic." 

And then: Blackout. It took the cookie brand just 20 minutes from the time the lights unexpectedly went out in the Superdome to create and tweet an image of an Oreo cookie against a black background carying an inventive line of copy: "You can still dunk in the dark.”  

The quick response went viral, as it was retweeted more than 12,000 times and won the Twitterverse award of the game's “Ad Bowl.” The Wall Street Journal called it "culture-jacking" the Super Bowl, while CNET called it "brilliant." The brand saw its Instagram following soar. So how did they pull it off?Continue reading...

In an unusual move by a major brand, CPG giant Nestlé responded this week to a $5 million U.S. class action suit over trans fats in its frozen pizza brands by posting a video on YouTube that pushed back against the claims.

The video, posted Wednesday on Nestle USA's corporate YouTube channel, was removed without explanation on Thursday (update: it's now back online).

The suit, filed by Katie Simpson of San Diego, Calif., claims that Nestle’s frozen pizza brands—DiGiorno, Stouffer’s, and California Pizza Kitchen—are a danger to public health because they contain trans fats. The ingredients are legal in U.S. packaged goods, though the state of California, New York City and Philadelphia have banned their use in restaurants.

"Katie has two young children and she likes to make pizza for them, and all kids love pizza," her attorney, Greg Watson, told ABC's Good Morning America. "It shouldn't have a toxic food additive that's been banned all around the world."Continue reading...

Above: Tracy Morgan in a teaser for Kraft's Super Bowl ad for its Mio water mix-ins.

There's no doubting the need or the stakes. That's why it isn't too surprising Research in Motion revealed on Friday that it will air a 30-second advertisement for its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone and operating system during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3.

BlackBerry's market share has dwindled, of course, in the wake of the onslaught by Apple, Google and Samsung on the smartphone market. Yet RIM executives have been maintaining that the 10 — with an all-new modus operandi and hardware — is not only the company's last chance, but also a game-changer. They're scheduled to reveal details on Wednesday.

"A Super Bowl commercial is a great opportunity to show the redesigned, re-engineered and reinvented BlackBerry to tens of millions of consumers on the largest advertising stage of the year," RIM CMO Frank Boulben said in a statement. The company already staged an ad takeover of the home page of the New York Times website in December.Continue reading...

McDonald's debuts new packaging featuring QR codes.

Samsung reportedly developing new Galaxy Tab 3 line-up and a tablet.

Walmart toughens ethics policies for suppliers with zero tolerance policy.

AB InBev wins court bid to get back Bud EU trademark for beer.

Boeing faces intensifying probes on troubled Dreamliner.

Caterpillar woes deepen in China.

Cumulus brings country music back to New York City radio.

Daimler commits to innovation in mobility.Continue reading...

The Keebler Elves may make some fine crackers and cookies inside their massive treehouse, but Kraft Foods is hoping to force the Kellogg-owned Keebler and Sandies to find a new way to keep their products from going stale.

Kraft filed suit in Chicago federal court Wednesday with the claim that Kellogg “improperly uses one of its patents,” Reuters reported.

The dispute stems from the resealable packaging that Kellogg uses (and customers like). Kraft claims it's too similar to its “Snack ‘n Seal” packaging.

Another food packaging design dispute is moving through the Chicago federal court system. An inventor took H.J. Heinz Co. to court last summer claiming that the company's “Dip & Squeeze” packaging too closely resembled his patented design.

Kellogg and Kraft may be competing on another front this week as well.Continue reading...

AIG decides against joining federal lawsuit.

Boeing tries to defuse fears about Dreamliner.

Yum! Brands apologizes for KFC chicken probe in China.

ArcelorMittal plans to issue stock to cut debt of world's largest steelmaker.

Chrysler sees push from UAW for IPO.

Coca-Cola files claim in China against false fungicide rumors.

Dish Network looks at spectrum as prize in Clearwire gambit as FCC opens doors.

Ford doubles dividend with business humming.Continue reading...