Mercedes-Benz announced in early October that it had purchased the naming rights to the Superdome in New Orleans for the next 10 years. And the luxury automaker isn’t missing any chances to spread its name around with dome power.

On Monday night, the New Orleans Saints blew out the New York Giants 49-24 in the dome’s first hosting of Monday Night Football since Mercedes-Benz signed on. It didn’t go totally smoothly. According to WWLTV, the National Football League made the dome management remove the stenciled words “Mercedes-Benz Superdome” from the field turf only hours before the game. 

“The NFL doesn’t allow secondary logos or non-NFL-affiliated logos on the field and turf crews had to spray off the paint from the FieldTurf,” WWLTV reports.

It was also the first time that a nation of viewers got to witness the strange light show emanating from the dome. Like a Mardi Gras necklace, the new dome has a lot of different colors to show off. However, the dome’s colors emanate from a massive lighting system that slowly moves from one shade to the next, filling the night sky.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune isn’t a huge fan of the dome’s lights, but the paper has far more disdain for the humongous (and plentiful) Mercedes-Benz logos projected there now, according to an op-ed.

“When the folks at Mercedes-Benz build a sleek, beautiful automobile, they stamp it with a few discrete corporate symbols: a blended-in grill ornament, maybe small hub-cap logos, and an inset star-and-ring on the steering wheel,” the Times-Picayune editorializes. “But that kind of design discretion didn’t apply at the Dome. Whoever decided on the size and placement of the corporate bling must have consulted with Flavor Flav.”

Right in the middle of an epic battle with BMW to sell the most luxury cars in the U.S. market for 2011, Daimler AG gave another signal that its corporate heart lies with its venerable Mercedes-Benz brand to the exclusion of others. The company plans to terminate its struggling Maybach luxury limousine brand after years of disappointing sales.

Daimler resurrected the old Maybach brand about a decade ago after losing out on obtaining current brands in a major restructuring of the high end of the European luxury-car business several years ago, when Volkswagen picked up Bentley to compete with BMW's Rolls-Royce. But Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said last week that "the sales chances for the Mercedes brand were better than Maybach's," in an interview with Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

By deep-sixing Maybach — which sells for more than $350,000 and was famously torched, mutilated and modified by Jay-Z and Kanye West in their recent music video, Otis — Daimler will attempt to capture its share of the six-figure-price market with an expanded range of really nice models sold under the Mercedes-Benz name.Continue reading...

Adbusters' role in branding Occupy movement examined in New York Times as Occupy LA protesters dig in heels.

Amazon eyes China growth.

Apple critiqued for not getting social media (but does it matter to brand loyalists?) as digi-savvy toddlers' parents fuel iPad sales.

Black Friday sales boost LG and Samsung as e-tailers are poised for Cyber Monday lift.

BSkyB's James Murdoch loses investors' confidence.

China's Chery automaker launches Qoros brand as Subaru joint venture gains lifeline.

Coach, expanding in China, will list shares on  Hong Kong's Hang Seng stock exchange.

Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Nestle and Mars sign European pledge to only promote nutritious products on their websites.

Disney releases mobile app for Spider-Man, as the Marvel-owned web-slinger finds his feet on Broadway.Continue reading...

Move over, Mini Darth — Daddy's back (Chewbacca, too) for Currys PC World in the UK.

Lingerie brand Fig Leaves launches interesting London Tube interactive campaign.

Click through for more seasonal fun.Continue reading...

Amazon ships Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch early.

Apple searches for next retailing genius, recalls first-generation iPod Nano devices.

Audi A7 wins car of the year nod.

Barbie links with Stardoll for premium collection.

BMW promotes sustainability with China roadshow.

Boeing cements wide-body lead over Airbus with biggest ever deal, with Emirates.

Borders demise parsed by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launch smashes records.

China 'ready' to allow foreign companies to issue stock.

Chevrolet woos Sonic buyers with perks program, while GM slows Chevrolet Cruze production.

Citrus Australia introduces new seal of authenticity.

Crowne Plaza tilts makeover toward young travelers.

Deutsche Boerse defends NYSE Euronext deal.

Disney buys Babble.com for $40M to reach 'hipster parents.'

Estee Lauder co-founder Evelyn Lauder dies, lauded for launching Pink Ribbon campaign for breast cancer research.

Facebook nears U.S. privacy settlement that would make public sharing opt-in, not opt-out.Continue reading...

A month ago we questioned why Mercedes-Benz, "the elder statesman of auto luxury, has opted for downright aggressive, almost violent, messaging and imagery." The ad in question (top) had been in heavy rotation.

Well, it seems Mercedes' marketing is reality, as reports from Oakland claim an aggressive Mercedes driver aggressively displayed his aggression by running over two Occupy protesters.Continue reading...

Lexus executives may have officially given up hope of nabbing the U.S. luxury-auto sales crown for 2011, but the top contenders for the prize are revving their engines. Mercedes-Benz slightly narrowed BMW's lead in October, to about 7,000 total vehicles from about 8,000 vehicles through the end of September.

Luxury-segment sales have trailed the growth in overall U.S. auto sales so far this year, in large part due to the supply disruptions for Lexus, Acura and Infiniti (which is launching production in China next year) because of the March natural disaster in Japan.

Both camps play down their sprint to the finish. "If we beat BMW, I'm not going to say I wouldn't be happy, but it's not our target to beat them," Mike Slater, vice president of sales operations for Mercedes-Benz USA, told brandchannel. "We don't focus on that. If one day we happen to be Number One, that'd be nice."Continue reading...

P&G delays $1.5 billion sale of Pringles.

Facebook struggles to get advertisers to pay for exposure.

Los Angeles Dodgers are for sale, owner Frank McCourt confirms.

Apple sees new CEO Tim Cook make it his own.

Bank of America blinks and withdraws $5 debit-card fee.

Bloomberg Businessweek ad campaign pitches personality.

BMW may see profit lead evaporate as new 3 Series eats into earnings and is topped by Mercedes-Benz in U.S. October sales.Continue reading...