Looks like Gillette is up to its old viral tricks. After last year's trick shot YouTube video with Roger Federer, the brand appears to be behind this latest athletic trick video. The description's a dead giveaway: "Tampa Bay Ray and Gillette Young Gun Evan Longoria makes a crazy bare hand catch right before it hits a reporter."

In other clues, the unflinching "reporter" covers up any logo that would normally be on her microphone, and it's the only video upload by YouTube user MrSprts12 ... who only joined YouTube on May 4th, lists his company as Gillette, and makes his favorite videos another giveaway. Even YouTube asks: "viral ad of the day?"

With this, Gillette is all but admitting outright that last year's Federer trick shot was a staged stunt. 

Borrowing a page from the Field of Dreams that inspired its current MLB campaign, Pepsi MAX is betting that if it builds a "Clubhouse in the Corn" then baseball fans will come.

IntoNow, a mobile app startup owned by Yahoo, has teamed with MLB Advanced Media, the digital arm of Major League Baseball, and PepsiCo on an innovative campaign that raises the bar on digital ad serving and monetization. 

It’s another PepsiCo first, leveraging technology to bridge television and the real world to create interaction around a great experience — in this case, baseball.Continue reading...

One of the most storied teams in the annals of baseball is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Why? Primarily because their roots are in the Brooklyn, New York of the 1950s. That's where the "Bums," as they were affectionately known, were the classic National League underdogs to the American League New York Yankees.

It wasn't that the Dodgers were bad; in fact, they had some of the best-known players in baseball — such immortals as Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, and Roy Campanella. It was just they could never beat the Yanks (well, not never: after playing the Yankees in four World Series, the Dodgers finally beat them to win the 1955 World Series — only to lose to the Yankees again the next year).

A 1959 World Series win as the Los Angeles Dodgers may have somewhat soothed the bad blood surrounding the Brooklyn Dodgers' relocation to the West Coast, but the team would never be quite the same. Still, they won two more World Series in the 1960s (one against the Yankees) and another in 1988.

But now the Dodgers brand is being battered by a controversy that seems to reinforce the famed phrase coined by Yogi Berra (he of the Yankees): "It ain't over 'til it's over."Continue reading...

AIG to sue two firms to recover some losses.

Apple sees Steve Jobs continue to try to smooth out Location-gate.

BP plans to return this year to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Berkshire Hathaway says former executive David Sokol misled Warren Buffett.

Buffalo Wild Wings prepares for NFL lockout.

Chrysler announces full repayment of US and Canadian government loans this quarter.Continue reading...

Amazon cloud issues impact sites including Reddit, Quora, Foursquare, and Hootsuite.

Apple reportedly ready to launch cloud-based music service ahead of Google.

eBay and Amazon wage costly battle for shoppers. 

Gap kicks tires on Visa's new mobile commerce program with Gap Mobile 4 U launch.

JPMorgan will return $861 million to Lehman brokerage. 

Linux patent suit ruling goes against Google.

MLB takes control of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

RIM's PlayBook beats odds and sells 50,000 devices on day one.

Samsung launches first Droid-branded smartphone for Verizon.

Who is Keenan Cahill, and what is he doing with San Francisco Giants Cody Ross and Brian Wilson?

If you're not familiar with the Brian Wilson's beard campaign (maybe it wasn’t “epic” enough for you?), he has teamed up with YouTube video sensation Keenan Cahill and teammate Ross in a video performance of the song Dynamite by Taio Cruz that's trending on YouTube.Continue reading...

Amazon, Costco and Kohls top US brand-loyalty ranking as Amazon’s Kindle expands to offer e-books from libraries.

BP includes Halliburton in round of lawsuits on one-year anniversary of Gulf disaster.

Boeing to fight order to move some 787 production.

Chesapeake Energy suffers blowout on anniversary of BP oil spill.

DirecTV plan for early viewing of new movies at home draws criticism from filmmakers.

Fiat moves to raise Chrysler ownership to near half.Continue reading...

With April the start of baseball season in America, Major League Baseball seems to garner most of the media attention. But there is a whole baseball subculture played out on Minor League Baseball fields around the country.

It is here, at smaller fields in smaller cities featuring "farm club" teams of the big leagues, that some 42 million fans attended reasonably priced games in 2009 — that's more fans than attend NFL football or NBA basketball games.

This may explain why Kraft American Singles brand of cheese has made Minor League Baseball part of its marketing strategy for the last two years, and this year is no different.Continue reading...