As fans obsess over Justin Bieber's new haircut and Christmas single, the Canadian pop star has quietly set another record. The video for said holiday single — Mistletoe, above — has been averaging more than one million views on YouTube per day since hitting the web on October 18th. According to YouTube's trendspotting blog, the word "Mistletoe" was one of its top rising searches globally over the past 30 days.

He also now boasts more than 2 billion YouTube views, a record he set on Sunday when his channel (a partnership with Vevo) crossed the 2 billion view threshold. Lady Gaga may have beat him to 1 billion views a year ago, but he has now beat her YouTube/Vevo channel (now at 1.85 billion views) to 2 billion views. Her collective YouTube footprint, where she maintains a Vevo channel and an 'official' channel, passed the 2 billion mark last month.

As for the single that made Bieber's name, Baby holds the record for the most-viewed music video of 2010 "and still averages hundreds of thousands of views per day" in 2011, according to YouTube.

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell just revealed her lingerie collection for Next in the UK. Available in spring 2012, Halliwell made no bones about her goal: "Basically, my aim was to make boobs look bigger and bums smaller."

Halliwell is just the latest pop star who has discovered that licensing her brand for a consumer line is far more lucrative than making music. From Kylie Minogue to Jessica Simpson to Jennifer Lopez to Gwen Stefani to Lady Gaga, pop stars and brand licensers are making beautiful, profitable music together.Continue reading...

Wikileaks spoofed Mastercard's "Priceless" campaign this week. Watch the spot below, along with new perfume commercials featuring Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera, plus place branding with a twist and more.Continue reading...

Whether you like her or loathe her, one thing is clear: Lady Gaga knows her way around self-promotion, brand building, and protecting your image. And it’s not good news when someone else is trying to use your name.

So Gaga's representatives filed a lawsuit Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court against a Nevada company, Excite Worldwide LLC, that’s attempting to trademark “Lady Gaga By Design” to stick on a line of cosmetics and jewelry, according to the Associated Press.

“Defendants are aware that their applications will never be granted in the absence of plaintiffs’ consent, which defendants have been told will never be given,” the suit says, the New York Post reports.

The Post notes that Gaga’s own application for a trademark has been delayed due to the confusion. Gaga wants to block Excite from using her name on any products as well as for the company to turn over “unspecified money damages,” the Post reports.

Talk about a Bad Romance.

With its latest collaboration, Target is going from Missoni to Tony. It's not exactly resurrecting the Rat Pack, but the retailer's new deal with Tony Bennett underscores one thing: Retro is cool.

The mass retailer has always been known for pace-setting deals with, for example, name product designers that have kept Target on the watch lists of style-conscious young women — and typically out of the same sentence with "Walmart." Target's hit (and sold out) collaboration with Missoni is the latest example of that.

While its exclusive promotion with the 85-year-old crooner isn't quite on the Missoni scale, this one also involves a collaboration with a venerable brand of Italian descent. In announcing that it will offer an exclusive version of Tony Bennett's new studio album, Duets II, beginning today, Target is laying down yet another marker of its cultural relevance.Continue reading...

BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche hit Frankfurt Auto Show with luxury cars retooled for younger generation, while Maserati brings Jeep-based SUV to Frankfurt.

ConAgra sets deadline for Ralcorp.

Cracker Barrel's new CEO outlines her plan amidst shareholder battle.

Dr. Oz shakes apple juice industry to the core.

eBay hit by criminal probe over use of Craigslist information.

Heineken-sponsored private concert in Brooklyn by Kanye West released by Vevo.

Ikea dispels death of Billy (bookcase) rumors.

KFC Australia pulls campaign claiming free range chickens.

Lady Gaga releases second in series of "fashion films" on YouTube.Continue reading...

Our most-read blog posts of the week include Nike's Back to the Future shoes, Diet Coke's new can, Lady Gaga's social network, Fashion Week, and more:

#1 NIKE MAG eBay Auction Goes Live - and Back to the Future [Video]

#2 Chipotle Scores Sustainable Hit with Willie Nelson's Coldplay Cover

#3 Diet Coke's New Look Launches at Target

#4 Dear America: Zara Launches US Web Sales

#5 Honest Tea a Wallflower No More Thanks to Label Redesign

#6 Bollywood's Bodyguard Features Hollywood-Style Product Placement

#7 Lady Gaga's Gift to Fans: The LittleMonsters.com Social Network

#8 Sir Richard’s: The Philanthropic Prophylactic

#9 As Fiat x Gucci Unveils at Fashion Week, "Icon" Claim May Be Unfashionably Early

#10 New York Fashion Week: Greener, Cleaner and Meaner

Back in June we noted that Lady Gaga had bought a 20% stake in The Backplane, joining Google chairman Eric Schmidt in supporting the nascent developer of social networking tools for groups ranging from "Girl Scout troops to celebrity fanclubs."

Naturally, Gaga's legions of fans (known as Little Monsters) would be the first to get their own social network powered by The Backplane — called, of course, LittleMonsters.com (which is now accepting pre-launch registrations).

It's getting closer to launch, with The Backplane last week tweeting a photo of the performer meeting with Backplane staffers (and posting it on Facebook), showing the site's logo in the background — the universal "paws up" monster claw used by her legions of fans.Continue reading...