You may have noticed "Jordans" trending on Twitter today. Inclement weather across much of the U.S. did not stop Jordan Brand fans from lining up in the cold to pick up the new $185-$225 Air Jordan 11 Retro "Bred" shoe from Nike, one of the most highly anticipated releases of 2012 for sneaker heads. One mob scene in Alabama saw local police using pepper spray to control the crowd, who were vying for one of 36 bands that would allow them to acquire the iconic kicks at a later date. Nike's stock rose 4% this morning, while its latest quarterly earnings report indicates the company intends to "focus resources on driving growth in the NIKE, Jordan, Converse and Hurley brands" going forward.

It hasn’t been easy for Air Canada in recent years with plenty of quarterly reports filled with losses. So what's an airline in the red to do? Launch a new sub-brand called "Rouge," of course.

Starting in July, Canadians can start using the new low-cost airline, which will initially fly out of Toronto and Montreal to such destinations as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Costa Rica as well as Venice, Italy; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Athens. Consumers could start buying tickets Tuesday. 

Later next year, Rouge plans to add more Canadian cities to fly out of as well as international destinations – and not just the ones that Air Canada flies to. "The creation of this carrier is to assist us in serving many destinations that our existing model does not work on a competitive basis," said Ben Smith, Air Canada's chief commercial officer, to the CBC.

According to Yahoo! Finance, Air Canada plans to hire 200 people for Rouge, but those employees shouldn’t expect to be rolling in dough. “Cost savings are expected to come from paying lower wages,” the report notes, “and putting more seats in planes in a so-called new ‘multi-tier seating’ structure.” And we’re not talking just a few more seats. The CBC hears it could be as much as 20 percent more. Prepare to not only fasten your seatbelts but suck in your gut, Canada.Continue reading...

Tide Pods are providing a robust helping of good news for Procter & Gamble in a year when its brands, products, strategy and even CEO have been taking a beating.

The company is projecting $500 million in first-year retail sales for pods, according to Ad Age. That's a major feat, given that of the 1,500 new consumer-packaged-goods launches tracked by SymphonyIRI in 2011, only 21 percent reached one-year sales of even $50 million.

Hungry for a big win at a time when nearly everything about its long-running formula for victory has been questioned, P&G has seen Tide Pods become a relatively rapid success since launching in February with a colorful campaign — with a few speed bumps along the way.Continue reading...

Microsoft has added SNL alum and comedian Andy Samberg to its roster of celebrity brand ambassadors in its Windows Phone holiday campaign. Check out his ad below.Continue reading...

Here's the video for Nokia's London light show - "This is Lumia" - with Deadmau5 last night.

Joel Thomas Zimmerman has a knack for drawing attention to himself. The house-music icon better known as deadmau5 sports a colorful and massive mouse head at live events, and dates the equally outrageous actress/model/tattoo artist Kat Von D has a way of helping the 31-year-old Canadian do such a thing.

And Nokia is happy to take advantage of his ability. Last November, he flew to London to rev up the crowds with a live music and 4D light projection show on London’s Millbank Tower to help promote the company’s Lumia 800. The show was projected onto big screens in six other English cities and live-streamed for those around the globe who wanted to pay attention. Now get ready for more deadmau5 x Nokia fun with another streaming show from London tonight.Continue reading...

Microsoft is promoting Windows 8-powered Windows Phone with a variety of celebrities including Gwen Stefani and Jessica Alba Its latest celeb, above: Bumble, the Abominable Snow Monster from the 1964 Rankin/Bass classic holiday TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's all part of Microsoft's "Meet the new Windows Phone, Reinvented Around You" campaign.

In-N-Out Burger caused a "frenzy" last month when it popped up with a stealth five-hour pop-up in London. Now Five Guys, the US burger chain so-named in honor of the male half of the founding couple and their four sons, is about to make its first foray out of North America and into the UK, and it's planning to stick around a little longer.

The word from UK's Marketing magazine is that Five Guys, which has a thousand locations in the U.S. and Canada, is expanding to the UK thanks to a deal that Five Guys has made with Sir Charles Dunstone, the founder of Carphone Warehouse.

The plan is for Dunstone to open a few Five Guys in the UK next year with the first of them being a flagship store in London. And no, Barack Obama's beloved Five Guys won't rebrand as "Five Chaps" for its UK arrival, and we doubt they'll start calling their menu's mainstay "burgers and chips."Continue reading...