Jeremy Lin signs free agent deal with Houston Rockets, ending "Linsanity" in NYC if the Knicks don't make him a better offer.

Yahoo considers CEO of Hulu for top job.

Porsche tries to adjust to Volkswagen embrace.

Anheuser-Busch encourages responsible drinking.

Bausch & Lomb could go public by year-end.

Chevrolet plans to show off vehicles at MLB All-Star Game in Kansas City next week.

Chuck E. Cheese burns long-time voice with new mascot.

Dynegy files for bankruptcy.Continue reading...

America is settling in for a long summer of campaigning between the Democratic candidate President Obama and the Grand Old Party’s Mitt Romney. News of minor flubs by candidates and those who work for them will come up at bars, barbecues, and ice-cream joints across the land (or be completely avoided, for everyone’s safety).

Americans will likely hear a constant media drumbeat about red states vs. blue states that will be so loud, it will seem that the country is about to burst into a Civil War.

Just in time for this comes a new study from Buyology that members of the two political parties don’t just disagree on their candidates. They also mostly disagree on the brands they love, though there are three that help bring them together. Next time a president wants to have a bipartisan summit of some sort, he or she might want to involve Coke, Apple, and Visa. Those three names were named by both parties as brands they love.Continue reading...

Just when you thought there was not another possible way for Taco Bell to combine cheese, ground beef, beans and corn chips, the renascent chain has introduced the Beefy Nacho Burrito. Not only that, but they're doing it for 99 cents — and with a marketing tie-in with Major League Baseball.

Taco Bell is now rolling out its latest menu item nationwide, featuring "seasoned beef, warm nacho cheese, cool sour cream and [new] queso strips, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla." For those of you who have lost count over the years of the many different ways in which Taco Bell can combine such basic ingredients, the innovation here, the company said in a release, is that the company "has found a way to put nachos into a burrito."Continue reading...

Every weekend, millions of kids take to the baseball fields of the world and hope that they’ll play well enough to win and be noted for their excellence. And plenty of them dream that they’ll keep moving on up the ladder, finishing up in a pile at the end of Game 7 of the World Series, which they have of course just won by either throwing a perfect game or hitting a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

But with 25 players on each Major League team at one time and 30 rosters to fill, there are only 750 spots to fill in the big leagues at any one time. Now those players who want a shot at the big-time will have a new place to showcase their skills. A new pro-ball league, owned by California-based Godfather Media, is now getting ready to batter up, and the American West Baseball League has just unveiled its logo.Continue reading...

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was the best pitcher in the American League last year, taking home his first Cy Young award after winning 24 games last year. So he capitalized a little bit on his popularity in the offseason and allowed his name to be put on a cereal to be sold in Meijer stores in the region as well as online.

Well, Verlander’s Fastball Flakes are selling like crazy. Originally, 100,000 “limited-edition” boxes were ordered but Crain’s Detroit Business reports that 110,000 boxes have been sold since the charity-supporting cereal went on sale in February.

“This has been one of our more successful products,” said Doug Ritchart, an account manager with the cereal’s manufacturer, Pittsburgh-based PBL Sports Inc., to Crain's.

Verlander is in the middle of a five-year, $80 million contract so he’s not hurting for cash. As a result, the profits from the sale of the cereal are all going to veterans medical assistance at two facilities in Michigan, according to USA Today.

PBL most famous product of all time was Flutie’s Flakes, a cereal featuring former Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie, which sold more than 2 million boxes. Good luck beating that, Verlander.

Facebook faces doubts by advertisers as it gears up for IPO roadshow.

Lifetime unveils new logo and tagline.

BlackBerry launches "Touch Awesomeness" campaign, test keyboardless version to challenge Apple.

Apple files for touch-based music-sharing patent.

CNN delivers lowest monthly ratings in a decade.

CVS succeeds in grabbing drugstore customers from Walgreens.

Chesapeake Energy board crimps CEO's power.Continue reading...

Whether Chevy is running deep, running sure (with its new global Commonwealth ad agency) or running well (based on recent strong sales), one thing the brand isn't running is away from its traditional association with baseball as the official sponsor of Major League Baseball.

And so in this opening week of the 2012 MLB season, Chevy has reached back to 1974 to remind American baseball — and car — fans to make sure they remember that it's always been behind America's Pastime. New ads key in on the catchy jingle from the old ads, "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet," and put them in new voices.Continue reading...

As Best Buy's March Madness commercial states, "It's time for comebacks and miracles."

The big box retailer used to be able to count on such major sports events — along with the Super Bowl, NFL Kick-Off, MLB Opening Day — to drive sales of new TV sets and big-screen home theaters. But with HDTV penetration at about 63% in the U.S., and an estimated one in four American homes a Blu-ray disc player, the big box consumer electronics retailer is backing away from its big box model.

Today, the company (which recently closed its UK operations) announced as part of its dismal quarterly earnings report that it is closing 50 of its 1,100 U.S. stores this year, while testing smaller tech support-centric "connected stores" in San Antonio and Minneapolis.

As part of its restructuring, it will also lay off 400 corporate and support workers in order to slash $800 million in costs and turn around its struggling business model. In addition to shifting away from being a big box retailer, it's also looking to China for growth.Continue reading...