Apple loses a top techie.

Charlie Sheen loses bid to stop arbitration in Warner suit.

Colgate acquires Sanex from Unilever for $940 million.

Color app aims to reinvent photo-sharing.

Frito-Lay chips go all-natural.

Google UK launches web magazine, Think Quarterly.

Motorola may be hedging Android bet with web-based OS.Continue reading...

American Apparel employee lawsuit is temporarily halted.

AOL layoffs shine spotlight on its brands.

Citigroup called world's "best positioned bank" by CEO in shareholder letter.

Facebook is the leading source of evidence in divorces.

Ford declared "most considered" auto brand on KBB.com.

Google lets users block sites from search,  announces it's hiring (esp. in ad sales) at YouTube.

HP's webOS plan "could irritate" Microsoft.

Johnson & Johnson's recall-plagued McNeil Healthcare unit signs FDA deal.Continue reading...

Fortune magazine's annual ranking of the world's most admired companies is also a shorthand for most admired brands.

Its just-released 14th annual ranking, a collaboration between the Time Inc.-owned business title with research conducted by the Hay Group, is worth checking out to see who's up, who's down, and why.

As ever, this year's list is based on a survey of business executives and the criteria includes quality of management, social responsibility (community and environment), quality of products and services, allocation of corporate resources, recruitment and retention of talent.

This year's top ten:Continue reading...

Nintendo's new black and white versions of Pokemon drew gamers of all ages to queue up in NYC's Rockefeller Center on Saturday.

Fans lined up at Nintendo World on March  to be among the first in the US to purchase the newest Pokemon video games: Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version for the Nintendo DS family of systems.

Attendees in line at Rock Center were entertained with some rock: a live performance by The Presidents of the United States of America.

Adidas forecasts better year. 

Allstate sues Merrill Lynch over mortage-backed securities.

Apple will today unveil second generation iPad — which may lead to a tablet price war — as brand aims to shed elitist label.

Bentley, Bugatti and Maserati compete for top end with new models at Geneva Auto Show.

CBS has almost sold out March Madness ad time as it promotes broadcast-sharing scheme with TBS. 

Chick-fil-A eyes new products and markets.Continue reading...

AIG holds first earnings call in two years to report staggering $2.2 billion operating loss.

Applebee’s tops online-impact survey.

Bing now displays friends Facebook likes in search results.

CBS cancels Two and a Half Men after Charlie Sheen's continuing antics.

Delia’s puts itself up for sale. 

Ford launches global campaign for Focus.Continue reading...

Advertising slots during this year's Academy Awards telecast on ABC have sold out. But just as last year, advertising rules apply, meaning "marketers still have to make sure certain ads featuring celebrities or celebrity voice-overs don't run near segments of the program that could feature those very same stars."

Last year, the prominent example of this rule in action was best actor nominee Jeff Bridges and his voiceover work for Oscar advertiser Hyundai (above).

This year, Bridges is the most prominent nominee to lend his talent to the, ahem, commercial sector. But he's far from the only one.

The nominees for Best Work in a Commercial Campaign (TV or Print) are:Continue reading...

The Sundance Film Festival kicked off last week with news that Morgan Spurlock's new documentary — The Greatest Movie Ever Sold — had sold.

In fact, it sold itself many times over: first and foremost to POM Wonderful for title sponsorship; to Sony, which will distribute it; and to the other brands who agreed to underwrite Spurlock's film in return for being featured placing their products as part of the film.

It all means that Sony will distribute the documentary in April under its new title — POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. The bigger question, as Spurlock seeks to sell out much in the way he intended to blimp out with his McDonald's-skewering Super Size Me documentary in 2004: who got bought and who got sold? And can such a cynical exercise really show how branding and product placement work?Continue reading...