Those who regularly use Twitter [like the author], it's a regular surprise just how fast information can be designated and how that information can culture, spore, and explode with momentum. Just the same, regular users know just how banal Twitter can seem. As you eat up live updates on the #Syria feed, you realize that, instead of #Syria, #Anchorman is trending. Why? Because some basic cable channel happens to be rerunning the film Anchorman and millions are tweeting about it while watching.

Now Twitter has released a list of 2011's "Hot Topics" and it's exactly what an experienced tweeter would expect: true life and gravity (Japan's earthquake, Egyptian uprising) vs. pointlessness (Charlie Sheen's #tigerblood meme). Continue reading...

Pretty much nothing stops People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from trying to make a point so it shouldn’t come as a surprise really that the organization recently unleashed its collective fury at a video game for lifting a little Japanese folklore.

The latest subject of PETA's rage? Nintendo’s longtime financial powerhouse, the Mario Bros. In some of the franchise’s games, including most recently Super Mario 3D Land, the character can don a tanooki fur suit, which “allows Mario to briefly turn to stone for disguise and protective purposes, as well as float through the air,” according to PrimaryIgnition.com. And you know how PETA feels about fur.Continue reading...

Groupon prices IPO as executives see hope in parallels to Amazon.

DeBeers now controlled by Anglo American.

MF Global Holdings CEO Jon Corzine resigns amid firm's implosion.

AMD to cut 1,400 jobs.

Apple fights discounts tooth and nail.

Church's Chicken focuses on family in new ads.

Columbia Sportswear uses outerwear "anti-spokesperson."

FOX to push envelope (and advertisers' buttons) with Glee episode featuring sex between gay teens.Continue reading...

Nintendo can’t afford to relive the nightmare of last holiday season. In a world where money is already a little scarce, the company dealt itself a big financial blow when it couldn’t get its then brand-new 3DS handheld game completed in time to sell at the holidays last December. As a result, the Associated Press reports, Nintendo had “to slash its profit forecasts by more than half.” Ouch.

The device finally came out in Japan in February and in the States and Europe in March. Now 4.32 million of the things have been sold and the video-game maker would like to see some of their cash come holiday time.

In order to earn that, Nintendo “is readying an array of video games for the holidays in an aggressive attempt to make up for lost time,” the AP notes. Super Mario 3D (available Nov. 13) is proving a hot item judging by pre-orders, while fans are salivating over Tales of the Abyss, to cite just two examples.Continue reading...

Alibaba takes on Baidu for dominance in China.

Android rises to #2 smartphone platform in Europe.

Apple ponders disposition of its cash horde.

California Pizza Kitchen plans brand revival.

Cochlear recalls line of ear implants.

Deutsche Bank launches Autobahn App Market.

Ford unveils new three-cylinder EcoBoost engine at Frankfurt auto show.

GameStop to sell branded gaming tablet.Continue reading...

Here's an unexpected entrant in the daily deals fray: BP, which has launched a location-based daily deals service to reinvent the brand and dip a toe in the muddied waters of consumer engagement one year after the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

The offers, available only to consumers in the UK, are being updated on BP’s corporate website .The tagline for Today’s Offers: ‘Keeping BP’s great offers at your fingertips.’ What a difference a year makes as sales and deals strive to trump a company’s performance track record once again.Continue reading...

Global markets swoon after yesterday’s disaster on Wall Street.

Borden steps out with “Friends of Elsie” campaign.

Comcast and DirecTV engage in legal battle over advertising about NFL broadcasts.

Discovery Communications continues with upbeat reports.

Dodge leverages NASCAR to tout new Durango.

Dunkin’ Brands to boost prices to cover commodity-cost increases.Continue reading...

All Nippon Airways defers deliveries of some 787s from Boeing and projects profit drop in wake of Japan disaster.

Bank of the West breaks brand ad.

BSkyB board votes to retain James Murdoch as chairman as the company plans a share buyback and a higher dividend and new phone-hacking allegations emerge and UK's top media regulator resigns.

Current TV names new CEO from “old” ranks.

Epocrates “free” ad-supported app lures doctors.

Fiat consolidates management of Chrysler with new global org chart.Continue reading...